Reading is like air

Transcript

Reading has changed in my lifetime. When I was a child, my father could not read, but he was strong. My father was a little bull of a man and he could make a living doing that. When I was young, you could work in a factory. With poor reading skills you could still find employment. Today you can’t do that. Today reading is like air. You have to be able to read to find a job. And you have to read more and more in your day-to-day life. There are more instances in which you have control over some aspect of your life.

Walter Dean Myers explains why knowing how to read is more important today than it was when he was growing up.

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Walter Dean Myers

Children’s Author

Walter Dean Myers discovered at an early age that books could take him to places beyond his neighborhood. In this exclusive video interview with Reading Rockets, Walter Dean Myers talks about the impact learning to read had on him and why it’s important for him to tell of the urban African American experience, particularly in his books for older readers.

In January 2012, Myers was named the third National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress. His platform: Reading Is Not an Option.

Reading 101

In the Classroom

Helping All Readers

Books & Authors

Literacy at Home

Reading is like air

Transcript

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Walter Dean Myers