Book Bonanza
A little girl hugged her very own copy of 'Winnie the Pooh'
By JULIA MARTINDanique Johnson, 9, had a definite plan when she left school April 12. She would go home, do her homework, and then start reading one of her three new books, "Harry Potter," "Outrageously Alice" or a Nancy Drew mystery, she said, "instead of watching TV."
The fourth-grader, like 194 other children at St. Aloysius School in Harlem, had the opportunity to make her choices from some 700 new books in a joint celebration of National Library Week and the statewide 11th annual "Great American Read-Aloud."
The bonanza of books was created by Jeff DaPuzzo, an advertising executive at American Express. A leadership training program he is involved in required a project on how to inspire others, and DaPuzzo came up with "Books for Children " to inspire a lifelong love of reading.
Because he had heard about the strong library development program at St. Aloysius School, he approached Sister Margaret Dennehy, S.C., school librarian. "Next thing I knew, we had a school," he said.
Sister Margaret considered the reading ability and interests of the children at the various grade levels and came up with suggested authors and titles, "some golden oldies and some wonderful new things," as she put it.
Some 150 co-workers, friends and relatives helped DaPuzzo collect the books, and he and a friend boxed and delivered them in 12 cartons.
The new books were spread out on classroom tables when DaPuzzo and a dozen volunteers arrived. Laurel Senger, school president, and Richard Burke, principal, welcomed and thanked them.
In pairs, the volunteers went to the classrooms, one to read and one to help the children sign their names on the bookplates inside their chosen books.
RaShay Hemmings, 6, hugged her new copy of "Winnie the Pooh" when she returned to her desk in the second-grade classroom. She was soon joined by an enthusiastic classmate, Leslie Oppong, 7, who chose the same favorite and said he was going to start reading it "right away."
For the first-round picks, children took turns by numbers. But after that excitement, the teacher, Rosamond Tingle, announced that, for the second picks, "only those who are quiet will go first."
Immediately the children sat, with hands folded, hardly daring to breathe, and some not even moving their eyes, to be eligible to hear her say, "You can go next."
Rachel Ruben, one of the volunteers, said because the children recently learned cursive writing, "for them to write their name in their book and say it belongs to them, it's exciting."
Before the books were selected, a volunteer in each classroom read two stories.
Nancy Lopez asked the little first-graders, "Can anybody tell me why it's good to read a book?" One child answered, "Because it helps you learn more words," and another added, "Because when you get to college, the words get bigger and larger."
After DaPuzzo's mother, Mary Jane DaPuzzo finished reading a book to the third-graders, one asked her an unexpected question, "What is the moral of the story?" Mrs. DaPuzzo thought a moment, and then said, "Well, let's check and find out what the message is."
Rob Kilpert said that when he asked the fourth-graders what it would be good to have for reading, he expected them to say a quiet place or a good light. Instead, one child said, "The reader has to have an imagination and an open mind."
In the cafeteria, the prekindergarten and kindergarten children sat on the floor near the stage, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to pick out their own books. After Sister Margaret led them in saying "Thank you" to DaPuzzo, she called on Marc Primus, a teacher who is the school's culture specialist.
Primus told the children he was 4 years old when he got his first book, a gift from his great-uncle. "He was born a slave in 1856," Primus said. "He loved reading books because he came from a time when they did not allow you to read books."
"I have always loved books," he said, "and I kept every one that anyone gave to me and every book that I bought, and now I have 6,000." "Ooohhh," the children responded, almost in unison.
"Today someone is going to give you perhaps your first book," he said, "and I hope that you will value the books you are given today, and maybe when you are 65 years old, you will be able to sit and tell the children born after you that you have the book that Mr. DaPuzzo gave you today and how good it is to read books."
At the end of the day, DaPuzzo said, "Just seeing the joy on their faces, their attention in listening to the stories, the respect that they have for books, it was a powerful experience."