NOV. 30 - DEC. 6, 1986 THE MICHIGAN CITIZEN
7
OPINION ".
�
eading
Together
A mother and her nine year old n h d been coming to the
libr ry together for about six wee . U ually, she helped him
lect book but on thi day the mother allowed her n to
lect his book alone while she went to the adult shelves to
find book for herself.
When they met at the check-out de , the boy, with a big
grim on hi face, showed hi mother the boo he had chosen.
The boo a Henry and Ribsy by B verly Cleary, a humorous
tory which ha been a favorite with children for many year.
The mother smiling ith mile disapproval, said to him
"You've already re d that book. Go and put that one back
and find another one.'
The boy I ked at his mother as though he wanted to de­
bate the i ue but though better of it and slowly trudged
back to the children's section to find a different book.
This is a frequent eene between parents and children in
the library. Parents want their children to make progre s in
reading they encourage the child to read as many books
s po sible. Thi is good but it i al go d to allow children
, to re-read book a many times as they like.
hildren want and need the curity which come from
familiarity. bo k which has been read and enjoyed be­
come a comf rtable a an old friend. It is very much like
becoming attached t a favorite blanket or toy.
Reading the ame book again and again will not impede
the child' progre in developin reading ills. On the con­
trary, it an help tremendously. The child is not only gaining
pra ti e. but al devel pin onfidence and curity in
reading. hildren wh become highly literate have u ually
had the exp rienc of readin the arne books many times.
anting t re-re dab 0 i a ign that the child i begin­
nin to find plea ure in re ding, whi h is nece ry if the
hild i to ntinue reading voluntarily. Children wh are
con tanly challenged in reading n develop a di taste for
it nd turn a y fr m b and reading as n as they can
fely do . But tho h have found th t b can b a
urce of comfort and relaxati n are well on the way to
devleoping trong reading habit which will last throughout
their live.
o d n't feel dismayed when your child de elops a crush
cert in boo. Encour e this buddin Jove affair ith
and re ding.
, label ...
�Madein
You don't have to answer that
u
ne line tatement
70 million dollar
11 or.
When Wilkins pre d the
i ue the bewildered Detroit
ho J Bard president Gloria
obbins looked toward School
Superintendent Arthur Jeffer­
n a any puppet would '100
her puppeteer to pull the
trings. Jeffer n made an
uncharacteri tic re pon. He
said 'Y u don't have to an­
swer that." Hi co r facade
wa in that in tance under
pre ure shattered. When Wil­
kins pressed for a reply Jef­
ferson finally composed him If
and called for a comment on
the matter from the front row.
At every school board meet­
ing the front row i filled by
board executive that are alled
upon the answer any question
that Jeffer n can't handle. In
this ca the reply gave the
blandest facts of the ca .
But one stood out. The bard
is paying 4.25% interest on
the 7Q mil. That amount
to about 300,000 intere .
That's a lot of money for
merely two single line entries
in the info pac et that wa
pa d out. Moreover, the
company that was handling the
note wa not discu d in the
previous E.E.O. & Purchasing
Committee meeting. But, what
the hell, it's only a $70 mil-
lion dollar transaction.
ilkin questions remained
fundamentally unan ered. I
the school bard increa in its
deficit? I there a significant
cash-flow cri is that i being
hidden fr m the 'people?
Doe n't a transacti n of this
kind de rve full explanati n
without pr dding by a gadfly?
Why can't the ho I b rd
pre ident answer que ions ith­
out Jeffer n? D esn't she
know what' going on? And
finally, what i this crap, You
don't have to answer that!]!"
Thoughts expressed here do
not necessarily reflect those of
the publisher, but belong entire­
ly to their author.