Approximately a week ago, California Governor Gavin Newsom made it official that all schools would be shutting their doors due to COVID-19. While there are those college kids who were relieved that they no longer had to study for that super-hard test next week, they found a bigger disappointment in the news that they still had to attend online classes (you can’t win them all). For everyone else, there was a concern from parents as to where they could go to get the satisfaction that school couldn’t provide. Newsom is establishing daycare facilities and many food banks are opening their doors to them as well. There are options out there, though the uncertainty as to when they’ll return to school remains largely unknown.
With many graduations being postponed and Newsom thinking that school won’t logically open until summer break at the earliest, it makes one wonder what possibilities there are in this fraught time. How does one sustain the stimulation to keep going? The world has shut down and those ready to escape their own internal dread will be happy to know that on the internet, everyone’s getting into the spirit. Ben Platt’s holding a dance party. Joel Embiid is playing video games.
But what about those who want to learn?
On one hand, the internet is an ever-expanding database of knowledge. You could type in keywords to any subject and find information both in print and video form. Websites like Mental Floss are great for those who want to pick up a few pieces of trivia in bite-sized form. There are options out there, though any hope for a structured environment will take some work to complete. This isn’t to suggest that these programs don’t exist, but whether they cost money is determined by location. There are also e-books from various libraries that can be consumed, though popular titles do come with waitlists. For those who like to make their own schedule, the internet has never felt more fulfilling for knowledge, though I personally find that guidance gets me where I need a lot better.
A current trend that I have discovered may not be new but feels like the novel (some pun intended) approach for those who want something resembling human contact. In the olden times when their doors were open to the general public, many would hold reading events where an author or very well-spoken individual would sit near a crowd of adoring children and read a book. The best could captivate you for the entire five minutes, occasionally stopping to show you pictures. As much as reading is an essential tool in any person’s life, being read to makes you feel more special. It’s the reader enhancing the page and making a sentence come to life. You can look at the word yourself, but sometimes you need someone else to see its meaning. Either that or you just need somebody else to confirm what has always been true: reading is way cool.
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| Even lawyers understand the use of a good book |
Then there is the PBS series Reading Rainbow, one of many educational series that the network aired during the 1990s. To our parents, he was Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge. To us, the dude who wore a VISOR on Star Trek went by a very different name: LeVar Burton. Every episode was a celebration of literature where he had guests read to the audience. He then would interview them to create a deeper understanding of the story’s meaning, and it created this deep appreciation of literature in its young audience. He would revive this in 2017 with a podcast called LeVar Burton Reads. But you don’t have to take my word for it.
Along with the “dog reenacts classic literature” series Wishbone, there were many options for me to watch TV about how I should’ve been reading books instead. I still find people of my generation who will randomly mention Reading Rainbow, and there is that fondness for Burton’s work. To have somebody reading to you is a feeling of being seen and respected by being allowed to go on a personal journey. It validates the feeling of seeing the page as a new world instead of quizzically formed ink.
That is why I felt personally moved that in a time where the Coronavirus has all but debilitated us, there is still this pro-literacy campaign going on somewhere on Instagram. I’m personally talking about the group Save With Stories. Amy Adams specifically joined social media for the first time occasion, working alongside Jennifer Garner to present stories to those who need that experience in their lives.
According to their mission statement:
THIRTY MILLION CHILDREN in the United States rely on school for food. School closures will hit vulnerable communities hard and @savethechildren and @nokidhungry are on the ground and ready to serve. They just need our help!
These funds will help us make sure that families know how to find meals when schools are closed, support mobile meal trucks, food banks and other community feeding programs, provide educational toys, books and worksheets, and support out-of-school-time programs to help kids make up for lost time in the classroom.
If you can manage a one time gift of $10, please text SAVE to 20222. If another amount would work better for you, please visit our website—link in bio. There is no maximum and there is no minimum—together we will rise and together we can help.
To Adams and Garner’s credit, they aren’t just asking for handouts. Through their Instagram page, they are currently having celebrities read children’s stories. Garner kicked things off with “The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark” by Ken Geist. Adams was next with a book from her own daughter Aviana Olea Le Gallo called “Dinosaur Princess.” As one can expect, this includes the traditional approach of reading a page before sharing the artwork with the reader. It’s also varied from person to person as to the quality of their performance.
Other readers so far have included Natalie Portman (“Is Your Mama a Llama” by Deborah Guarino), Reese Witherspoon (“Uni the Unicorn” by Amy Krouse), and Camila Cabello reading in Spanish (“¿Cómo dicen te quiero los dinosaurios?” by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague). It’s updated with some frequency, so odds are that someone you like will be appearing to read a book soon enough.
While not yet affiliated with Save With Stories, Elder Cunningham himself Josh Gad has also taken to sharing stories on Twitter. Who better to entertain your children than the man who shot to stardom by yelling “Hello, would you like to change religion? I got a free book about Jesus!” As the man who once went door-to-door selling books and converted an entire nation, Gad definitely has some insight as to what we like to read. In fact, he was so successful that he’s partially responsible for holding the record for the longest-running musical on Broadway with the word “Book” in the title. Another fun fact: The Book of Mormon is also the longest-running musical (so far) of any show released during the 2010s (the less literal runner-up Aladdin is 1,200 performances behind).
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) March 19, 2020
So with a pedigree like that, who wouldn’t want him to read your children's books? Unlike Save With Stories, his Twitter account is entirely operated by him. His preambles are often comical before diving into his take on such works as “Hooray for Diffendoofer Day” by Dr. Seuss and “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein. He’s likely to have more, so keep an eye out for those.
It didn’t take a pandemic to get everyone to appreciate the joys of reading. I have noticed that so long as children’s books have existed, somebody’s been there to read it. However, it feels more crucial than ever to maintain some normalcy during these troubling times by making an effort to keep the mind active. While TV and the internet have plenty of options, there is a special kind of rewarding stimulus that comes with engaging with the written word, of presenting stories where the picture comes from your imagination. It’s a thrilling experience and people like Gad and Adams are doing plenty to keep morale alive.
There is always the option to fly solo and do this yourself. You can pick up a book and twist a word in a clever enough way that it delights somebody in the room. Reading leads to more creative imaginations that can grow into their own wild beasts. That is why an effort should be made every now and then by you or your local bookworm to open a book and see the wonders inside. I personally have seen my nieces fall in love with “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle. Not only have they memorized the book, but they insist on reading it. Something about the colors and patterns speaks to them, and it makes me curious to see what kind of readers they grow into. Right now the ideas bleed into their imagination, appearing in the vernacular as they run around during these blasted boring times. Even on a subconscious level, they’re already obsessed with reading, which is half the battle.
While I’m not necessarily saying that you need to use Save With Words as a babysitter, I do want to use it as a way to show the good in this world. Much like Reading Rainbow when I was a kid, it’s important to constantly encourage kids. If we learned anything from Roald Dahl’s “Matilda,” it’s that reading can give us superpowers.
Why not find yours today?
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