Today is Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) day, a wonderful time dedicated to the joy of reading. When my daughters were young, they had D.E.A.R. time every day in elementary school. In middle school this time was known as SSR or Silent Sustained Reading. Not nearly as fun as D.E.A.R. right? D.E.A.R. makes me think of how precious books are, and how much fun it is to get comfortable with a book and read. SSR almost sounds like a chore. Yet, the end result is the same, which is 30 minutes of uninterrupted reading time. Reading for 30 minutes each day may sound like a luxury, but it’s especially important for children who are developing literacy skills that will serve them throughout their lifetimes.

Later today I’ll be dropping everything to read with my daughter, Catherine, who is 15 and a sophomore in high school. We still read out loud together, particularly our current mother-daughter book club selection. Today we’ll be continuing with A Taste for Rabbit by Linda Zuckerman. I also plan to start a new book to review for this website called Kimchi and Calamari by Rose Kent. It’s great having an excuse to read. To look for more reasons, including the fact that today is Beverly Cleary’s birthday, check out the Drop Everything and Read website. There you’ll find reading lists for books good for families with children 4 and under, 5 to 7, 8 to 11 and 12 and up. I also learned from the website that Ramona and Beezus will be released as a movie in August. After reading lots of Ramona books with my daughters when they were younger, I know these books are great fun for younger readers, and I hope the movie proves to be fun too.

Thanks to a reader named Lucy who sent in this image from the movie from People magazine.

Ramona and Beezus