Talking It Over

I met the Cat in the Hat this week. On Monday, the Cat and I celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday with children's author Rosemary Wells and some tiny Head Start students in District Heights, Md.

Dr. Seuss was a beloved author and illustrator who brought joy to and instilled a love of reading in generations of children and their parents. I can still recite from memory the lines of some favorite Dr. Seuss books that Bill and I read to Chelsea — over and over again. Remember this? "The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day." And what about "People are people no matter how small"? Here's my personal favorite: "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose."

On March 2, the National Education Association organized "Read Across America" to honor Dr. Seuss and to spark a love of reading in a new generation of American children. All across the country, millions of teachers, parents and volunteers participated in events designed to encourage reading aloud to children.

We know that students who read for enjoyment outside of school do better in school. Unfortunately, we also know that the number of older children who read for pleasure outside of the classroom is gradually decreasing and that 40 percent of this country's 8-year-olds cannot read even at the basic level.

Last year, in an effort to reverse this trend, the President launched the America Reads Challenge to make sure that all children can read on their own by the end of the third grade. In response, tens of thousands of volunteer tutors are already at work giving our children the intensive reading help they need. More than 900 colleges are committed to granting work-study credit for tutoring children. And this year, 3,000 new AmeriCorps members and thousands of new senior volunteers will recruit more than 100,000 volunteer reading tutors for our children.

With the help of dedicated volunteers like these, we can teach our children to read. But learning to read must start even earlier — as soon as a child is born.

Instinctively, we know that reading aloud strengthens the bond between a parent and child.

Last April at the White House Conference on Early Childhood Development and Learning, new scientific research proved our instincts correct.

Not only does reading aloud strengthen emotional bonds, it also helps a baby's brain develop and grow by stimulating the neural connections that are the basis for language and learning.

When I talk to young parents about the importance of reading and talking to their infants, many ask why they should be talking or reading to a child who can't talk back. Some parents worry that they're not good readers themselves. Some confide that they can't read at all.

It doesn't matter.

Reading and talking are as important to children's brains as car seats and immunizations are to their health. Parents who can't read or don't think they're good readers should just hold open a book, point to the pictures and make up a story.

Because new parents are generally inclined to follow the advice of their pediatricians, last January, I issued a challenge to hospitals, pediatricians, health centers, booksellers, publishers, libraries and others to make sure that every child who sees a doctor has access to books. As a result, several groups joined forces to launch the Prescription for Reading Partnership.

During the past year, the Prescription for Reading Partnership has distributed 2 million books to over a million children through hospitals, pediatrician's offices and health centers around the country.

One of the Partnership's most successful endeavors has been the Read to Your Bunny Campaign. Supported by the American Booksellers Association, the campaign contacted doctors and asked them to give reading "prescriptions" to their young patients. The prescriptions could be redeemed at over 1,500 participating bookstores for copies of Rosemary Wells' new book "Read to Your Bunny." I'm pleased to report that over 200,000 prescriptions have been filled, placing copies of this delightful poem in the hands of children all over the country.

The Partnership can help put a book in a child's hand, but it's you — the parents and grandparents, older sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbors — who must take the next step. It takes only 20 minutes a day.

One of my favorite Dr. Seuss books is "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" Let me share the first lines with you:

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!

Celebrate reading with your child every day, and you'll both be off to Great Places, too.

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