WEBVTT 00:01.966 --> 00:03.966 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JUDY WOODRUFF: As we head into the holiday week, here's a suggestion for when your flight 00:03.966 --> 00:08.133 align:left position:12.5%,start line:80% size:87.5% is delayed, or you just can't possibly watch any more football. 00:08.133 --> 00:10.800 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% Get a book and read out loud. 00:10.800 --> 00:13.300 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% But don't just gather the kids and the grandkids. 00:13.300 --> 00:18.300 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Tonight, beloved children's book author Kate DiCamillo shares her humble opinion on the 00:19.766 --> 00:24.000 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% universal and age-defying magic of listening to a shared story. 00:24.000 --> 00:29.000 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% KATE DICAMILLO, Author, "Louisiana's Way Home": It's 1972, and I'm 8 years old and in second 00:30.366 --> 00:32.800 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% grade at Clermont Elementary in Clermont, Florida. 00:32.800 --> 00:37.333 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% The classroom floors are wood, and there's a ticking clock on the wall, and there's a 00:37.333 --> 00:41.133 align:left position:12.5%,start line:80% size:87.5% chalkboard, and there are mottoes to live by strung up above it. 00:41.133 --> 00:46.100 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% And the teacher, Ms. Boyette, is wearing cat eyeglasses with glinting rhinestones. 00:47.600 --> 00:49.600 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% She's reading aloud to us from "Island of the Blue Dolphins." 00:49.600 --> 00:54.266 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% And we have just come to a part of the book where the main character tames a wild dog, 00:54.900 --> 00:56.200 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% a wild dog. 00:56.200 --> 00:58.400 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% And I'm literally on the edge of my seat. 00:58.400 --> 01:01.533 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% I'm listening, listening, caught up in the wonder of at all. 01:01.533 --> 01:04.133 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% I'm a kid who loves a story. 01:04.133 --> 01:08.766 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% But also in that second grade classroom seated not too far away from me, there's a class 01:08.766 --> 01:10.800 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% bully. 01:10.800 --> 01:14.533 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Because I am so terrified of this boy, he doesn't even seem real to me. 01:14.533 --> 01:18.333 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% He is, in my mind, less a boy and more a monster. 01:18.333 --> 01:20.600 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% In any case, Ms. Boyette is reading. 01:20.600 --> 01:24.700 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% And I look over at this boy because he is someone I am very much in the habit of keeping 01:24.700 --> 01:26.800 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% an eye on. 01:26.800 --> 01:31.033 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% And I notice that he is listening too, that he is engaged by the story, that he, like 01:32.966 --> 01:36.100 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% me, is leaning forward in his seat and listening with his whole heart. 01:36.966 --> 01:38.900 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% I stare at him, open-mouthed. 01:38.900 --> 01:43.566 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% I'm struck with a sudden knowledge that this boy that I'm so afraid of is in fact just 01:44.100 --> 01:45.333 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% like me. 01:45.333 --> 01:47.433 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% He's a kid who likes a story. 01:47.433 --> 01:51.033 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% The boy must feel my eyes on him, because he turns. 01:51.033 --> 01:55.900 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% He sees me seeing him, and something miraculous happens. 01:55.900 --> 01:58.233 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% He smiles at me. 01:58.233 --> 01:59.233 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% Really. 01:59.233 --> 02:00.566 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% And then another miracle. 02:00.566 --> 02:02.866 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% I, unafraid, smile back. 02:02.866 --> 02:05.700 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% We're two kids smiling at each other. 02:05.700 --> 02:08.000 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% Why have I never forgotten this small moment? 02:08.000 --> 02:12.066 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% Why, almost 50 years later, do I still recall every detail of it? 02:12.066 --> 02:17.066 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% I think it's because that moment illustrates so beautifully the power of reading out loud. 02:18.533 --> 02:21.933 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% Reading aloud ushers us into a third place, a safe room. 02:21.933 --> 02:26.600 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% It's a room where everyone involved, the reader and the listener, can put down their defenses 02:26.600 --> 02:28.666 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% and lower their guard. 02:28.666 --> 02:33.133 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% We humans long not just for story, not just for the flow of language, but for the connection 02:34.233 --> 02:35.933 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% that comes when words are read aloud. 02:35.933 --> 02:38.066 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% That connection provides illumination. 02:38.066 --> 02:40.733 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% It lets us see each other. 02:40.733 --> 02:45.733 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% When people talk about the importance of reading aloud, they almost always mean an adult reading 02:46.333 --> 02:48.466 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% to the child. 02:48.466 --> 02:52.033 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% We forget about the surly adolescent and the confused young adult and the weary middle-aged 02:52.800 --> 02:54.600 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% and the lonely old. 02:54.600 --> 02:56.700 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% We need it too. 02:56.700 --> 03:01.066 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% We all need that third place, that safe room that reading out loud provides. 03:02.166 --> 03:04.066 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% We all need that chance to see each other. 03:05.266 --> 03:06.666 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% JUDY WOODRUFF: What a great piece of advice.