Parents of minority children:
Are you taking your children to your local library, reading to them, letting them read to you, fostering their love of books and reading, and teaching them how to navigate a library? If not, please do it! Start today! Your local library is a wonderful tool at your disposal. Reading helps children learn; it aids literacy and language acquisition. It will expand their imagination, vocabulary, and intelligence. Please, please make reading apart of your family's lifestyle.
Poor and minority children have so many disadvantages. It's a sad, unfair, ugly fact, but we can help do something about it. Read to your babies! Please! Our children are just as smart, capable, and amazing as all children are. We have to help them succeed. Call your library see what programs they offer. Give your children allowances for reading books and completing reports rather than chores. Make it fun. Expose them to comics and graphic novels. Just make it a priority. It's so vitally necessary.
