What is D.E.A.R Day?
Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R) Day is a nationally recognized event that encourages families to not just accept reading as a common activity within their home, but to prioritize it. There are multiple physical and mental health benefits attributed to reading even just thirty minutes a day. By introducing children to the concept of reading for fun at an early age, parents may indirectly be giving them a tool they’ll use for the rest of their life to reduce stress, improve sleep quality, and slow mental decline.
In children and teen's early developmental stages of life, specifically, reading helps strengthen critical thinking skills, develop empathy, solidify morals and values, and encourages imagination among other benefits. Setting aside time to get together as a family and read out loud also supports deeply rooted bonding between parents and siblings. Along with this sort of group reading, discussing the book's characters and events after reading out loud can help sharpen young minds by encouraging them to think deeper and make connections that may lie between the lines.
Who was Beverly Cleary?
D.E.A.R Day is annually observed on April 12th in honor of the esteemed children’s author Beverly Cleary’s birthday. Yes, this post is a bit early, but I wanted to make sure you had plenty of time to prepare for the day! Find a list of suggested books for the family in the How Should I Celebrate? section.
Cleary was born in an Oregon town so small that it didn't even have a library. Her mother took the matter of exposing Cleary and other local children to books into her own hands, making an arrangement with the State Library to have books sent to the town and acted as a librarian for them. Even with this effort by her mother, Cleary's reading ability was still lacking by the time her family moved to Portland and she was enrolled in grammar school.
Cleary did not let this disadvantage hold her back. By the third grade, she had overcome the setback and was an exceptional reader. Seeing her improvement and the love for reading she developed through it, it did not take long for educators to start encouraging Cleary to write for children when she grew up. She heeded their suggestions, took the idea and ran with it. By the time she passed away in 2021, Clearly had lived 104 wonderful years and had accumulated nine national awards and over thirty state level awards celebrating the books that brought us characters like Ramona Quimby (who made it to the big screen in the 2010 movie adaptation of Ramona and Beezus) and Ralph S. Mouse.
Read more about Beverly Cleary here.
How should I Celebrate?
I think it’s pretty obvious that the best way to celebrate D.E.A.R Day is to drop everything and read, but it’s important to make it fun for the whole family so they’re encouraged to read on other days, too. Here are some ideas on how to celebrate D.E.A.R day with your family:
Have a picnic in the park. This is a great option whether one person is reading out loud or everyone is enthralled in their own story.
Take your family to a bookstore and let them each pick out one book. When you get back home, have everyone read the first chapter or two of their book and then have a conversation about what everyone thinks and expects from their books.
After dinner, gather everyone up for a dessert treat. While they enjoy it, read them something fun!
If your kids are older, treat them to a coffee date. Take them to your favorite coffee shop with a few books in tow. Find a cozy spot to sit then enjoy the coffee and books in each other’s company.
Need ideas for books? Here are some suggestions based on age:
Babies
1 - 4 Years
4 - 8 Years
8 - 12 Years
12 - 15 Years
15 - 18 Years
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Samantha H.
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