Author Judy Blume relates power of books to Madison middle-schoolers
Author Judy Blume considers reading a powerful way to connect and communicate with people.
Blume admitted she had difficulty communicating with her mother at times while growing up, but credits her mother for sharing the joy of reading.
Blume's mother didn't have any problems
expressing expectations, but rarely ever talked about "anything
important in life," the author said.
Passing on her love of books and reading were ways mother connected with daughter, and they proved to be valuable lessons for Blume, who has written 28 books during a career that has spanned nearly 40 years.
"She handed me Anne Frank's 'Diary of a Young Girl' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird' before they were ever (widely) read in schools," Blume said. "Those were two really significant books in my life and (I learned) books can be a way of communicating, even though my mother didn't talk to me.
"I knew something because she wanted me to read these books that she had read that spoke to her in some way. She thought, 'These books will speak to Judy.' And they did."
At the invitation of Wisconsin First Lady Jessica Doyle, Blume appeared at the Governor's Executive Residence Thursday morning and read and talked to 45 sixth-grade students and teachers from Cherokee Middle School.
Blume, who received the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Library Association in 1996, helped kick off the Wisconsin Book Festival Wednesday night with a keynote speech at the Memorial Union Theater.
While her adult-focused address Wednesday discussed her career writing for children and teenagers, the author of "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" and "Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing" shifted gears for a younger audience Thursday in selecting a short piece to read to students.
The three teenage girls in Blume's 1988 book "Just as Long as We're Together" are in seventh grade and deal with a variety of relationship issues with friends, family and classmates.
Jessica Doyle, who was an educator for 26 years and spent eight years at Cherokee as learning coordinator and assistant principal before husband Jim was elected governor in 2002, has always been a huge advocate for reading. In 2003, she helped create "Read On Wisconsin," an online book club for five different age groups of children.
Much like Blume, Doyle told the Cherokee students that she used reading -- and Blume's books in particular -- to bond with son Gus.
"I know for me, our son Gus, when he was going through school, he was not very communicative," Doyle said. "We got in the habit of reading Judy Blume books back and forth to each other when he was in fourth and fifth grade, and we kept graduating (to harder books).
"We always had something to talk about because we had a Judy Blume book going. Reading is entertaining, but it's also really helpful."
Doyle was thrilled that Blume was able to find time in her busy schedule to speak with the Cherokee group. Doyle hosts Reading Days at the Residence once a month in the living room of her home, but hasn't scheduled as many author visits as she would like.
She said improving reading ability reaches a critical stage in middle school, and added that reading outside of the classroom is important. At the conclusion of the monthly reading groups, Doyle spreads books out on a table and each student picks one to take home.
"Especially in middle school, that's when students start drifting away and maybe they get involved in video games and other kinds of distractions," Doyle said. "They're really busy, and if there is anything we can do to really get the idea across that reading is really enjoyable, we want to encourage that.
"There is research that substantiates if you pick a book and have a book and it's yours, you're more likely to read at home."
Meanwhile, many students and teachers brought their own copies of Blume's books to obtain an autograph from the author. Blume marveled at tattered covers of a few of the teachers' books as she chatted with them in the foyer of the Governor's residence.
Blume said enriching readers' lives, especially children, has been a rewarding mission. Teaching people to be storytellers has also been an added benefit.
"Let them know that stories are fabulous and they will then learn to tell stories themselves, and maybe they'll tell stories back to you," Blume said. "Just this love of reading has to come when they're young, but then again, it's never too late to learn to read. I've known lots of people in their 20s, 30s and 40s (who started late), and to learn to read is such a joy. But the best thing is to get them when they're young."
File photo
Author Judy Blume read to a group of sixth-graders at Governor's Executive Residence Thursday morning at the invitation of First Lady Jessica Doyle.
