INDIANAPOLIS — Giving a child a book is giving them a chance to dream.
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On Tuesday, students at Washington Irving Neighborhood School filled their backpacks with five free books to take home, thanks to a community partnership aimed at building home libraries.
“I learn new words because there’s a lot of words in books that I don’t really know what they mean,” said Jrue Miller, a student who loves reading.
The event is part of WRTV’s annual “If You Give a Child a Book” initiative, in partnership with the Scripps Howard Fund and Scholastic Books. The program’s mission is to put books in the hands of students at school and at home, giving them the tools they need for lifelong learning.
“When we can get those foundational skills early, it helps make sure that students have what they need to be successful at school,” said Melissa Rowe, assistant principal at Washington Irving.
Rowe said that in a world of digital distractions and shifting priorities, building literacy early is more important than ever.
“We are seeing where there’s less of that school readiness experience with language, and so we’re obviously competing with a lot of digital things, a lot of different priorities,” Rowe said.
From Clifford to Diary of a Wimpy Kid, roughly 1,300 different books were handed out at Tuesday’s book fair.
As the Scripps Howard Fund puts it, reading can take students places, open their imaginations and fuel big dreams.
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