Dear reader,
From the time I was a young child, my parents lovingly fostered a passion for reading in me. I remember my brothers and I piling into bed with my mom while she read us stories before bed; Harry Potter and The Time Warp Trio were our favorites. Stretching back earlier than I can recall, my sunny childhood bedroom window was lined with books. It was sitting on my bed right beside this window that I vividly remember reading my very first book all by myself, The Chick and the Duckling. I raced out of my room to tell my mom, and then read the book aloud to her to demonstrate my achievement. I was so proud of myself.
As I grew older and graduated to chapter books, then thicker novels, my confidence and independence continued to grow — and all along the way were caring adults who supported me, putting the books in my small hands. My fourth grade teacher would lend me her own personal copies of books — like her own childhood edition of Little Women — to read and then discuss with her while I waited for my bus to be called at the end of the day. She also taught me how to write a five-paragraph essay, and I took the natural next step for a word-lover, to writing.
Support VTDigger’s original reporting and you will also send one brand-new children’s book to a Vermont child. Time is running out for our critical spring member drive. Will you join us?
My eighth grade English teacher introduced me to the classics and taught me how to really read, hunting for hidden meanings, metaphors and illusions. I felt like I was learning a new, hidden language, and something I had known how to do for years suddenly felt brand new again. I still have my copy of A Tale of Two Cities from that time — spine broken, pages thin, notes scribbled in the margins and lines underlined with the gusto of a kid in awe.
It’s so obvious looking back now that the grown-ups in my life, by cultivating my love of reading from a young age, were assembling the building blocks of who I am as an adult. As a reporter, I read and write on a daily basis. But I also strive to go deeper, finding the colorful characters, engaging dialogue and illuminating details that bring a story to life. Covering politics, I mine for nuance and hidden meanings like my eighth grade teacher taught me — but now, I parse out Vermont state politics, not Dickens’ fictionalized world of the French Revolution.
Childhood literacy was the ticket to my adult life. It saddens me to think that those precious books granted to me over the years were a privilege not afforded to all kids. The Vermont-based Children’s Literacy Foundation is striving to change that reality, working to deliver new books to Vermont kids so they, too, can grow to their full potential.
If you have the means, I hope you’ll consider supporting VTDigger and the Children’s Literacy Foundation in our spring member drive.
When you support VTDigger’s independent journalism today, you will also send one brand-new children’s book to a child in Vermont. Together, our goal is to donate 3,000 brand-new books to Vermont children by April 20.
Thank you for your generosity.
Sarah Mearhoff
Statehouse Bureau Chief
