What's in a book?

SELINE AUGUSTINE

The programme was called DEAR! - Drop Everything And Read. And books you enjoy reading, to boot. Yes, "to bring the world together with reading," Scholastic India got schools into the "Read for 2001" programme on December 8 at noon for 2001 seconds, in other words, 33 1/3 minutes.

Introduced last year by Scholastic Book Clubs, it found thousands of classes all across the U.S. stopping all work and picking up their favourite books to read together for 2000 seconds. This year's theme, "One World Reading Together" reached children in India, Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S.

In what is billed the "Biggest Reading Event of the Year", in New Jersey, V Graders in a school had special guests - New York Jets players and the local policemen, to read to them. Teachers in a Florida school had Lunch Bunch picnic to celebrate, by inviting parents to have lunch and read with the children.

In Chennai, at the Union Christian School, the students of Class V were roped in for the programme. A visit to the school provided the happy sight of boys and girls enjoying themselves reading library books. Joshua Joseph, Std. V , with an Enid Blyton in hand, was excited, "It is jolly good to read a storybook," he said. Ms. Sabeena Uthaman, librarian, had organised the programme in the school.

Bhavan's Rajaji Vidyashram had the entire primary section, from classes I to V engrossed in reading. Ms. Meera Mehta, English Resource Person, said in some of the classes, slokas (Value Education books) were read and in others it was textbooks and in Std. I, it was picture storybooks.

Ms. Jyoti Swaroop, regional co-ordinator, Scholastic India, says "we are hoping that the 21st century will belong to books and not entirely to the TV and other distractions of the 20th century. Schools around the world share the same concern - the lack of proper reading habits among children.."

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