By Pat Kelly

I was walking behind a group of students today when one of them dropped a book and a eyeglasses case. When I told her I’d pick them up (her arms were loaded with school supplies), the girl graciously accepted. I set the glasses case and a copy of Charlotte’s Web precariously on top of her pile and said to the student, “Charlotte’s Web is my absolute favorite book in the world. Are you enjoying it?” The girl told me she was.

How often is it that you run into someone who’s reading the same book you read almost fifty years ago? The sweet interaction between myself and the student is a true affirmation of how first-rate literature is timeless and it truly made my day. Classic children’s books like Charlotte’s Web, Hatchet, and The BFG attract the attention of generations of kids. They have the appeal of characters and plots that anyone in any day can identify with.

A to Z Literacy Movement endeavors to bring the classics and more to the children of the world so that they too can learn, be entertained and inspired.