Why babies, Batman and books are some of the Triangle’s best reasons for giving back

The granddaughter is 8 months old and living a fine, fine life. Each day is filled with adventures (such as rediscovering her toes) and a sweet chorus of squeals and gurgles.

She’s a happy kid for no shortage of reasons.

Good parents with health-care backgrounds and a love for baby-tech monitoring gadgets.

Good routines, from naps to feedings.

And a whole bunch of toys.

Sally the doll is her best friend. But so is “Baby Sloth,” a book about napping that features the cutest finger puppet.

Anyone who reads “Baby Sloth” and fiddles with the fur-like puppet becomes her instant friend. Reading, even for an 8 month old, is better than fidgeting with toes.

But we know that. And we know that not every kid, especially in the Triangle, has a book that can double as a cool friend.

WAKE Up and Read

Lori Krzeszewski was a kindergarten teacher for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools when she saw the importance of putting books in the hands of children. She decided to focus on children’s education and literacy, earned a PhD, and now is administrator for WAKE Up and Read, a community coalition that is part of the national Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

It’s an impressive coalition of education, business and community champions focused on school readiness, supporting families, and sustaining high-quality learning environments.

Those community champions include folks like Richard Averitte, a native North Carolinian and marketing vice president who has adopted literacy among a host of human-rights causes. He’s been involved with WAKE Up and Read’s annual book drive since 2015, using his marketing creativity to get the word out about connecting books with children.

Richard comes naturally to this cause. His dad was a high school science teacher. His mom was a school librarian.

Richard recalls his mother striking a deal with him in the summer of 1983. “The Dark Knight Returns” mini-series was out, and he wanted it. His mom agreed to buy the series if he read three books of her choice. Her choices included “Black Boy,” the famous memoir by Richard Wright of an author growing up in the South.

“I was fortunate to grow up in a home with books and resources. Also, my parents encouraged me to read anything and everything,” Richard says.

Reading Batman and “Black Boy” may have spurred Richard’s activism. Kindergarten students inspired Dr. Krzeszewski to make literacy her give-back cause.

Make kids and yourself happy

Whatever the reason, giving has been the Triangle’s best-kept secret each February. The WAKE Up and Read coalition collected 188,000 new and gently used books last year. They used a network of schools, child care centers and coalition partners to distribute most of those books to create 20,000 home libraries for children.

By February’s end, their ninth annual drive will break the one-million mark in donations. That’s one million feel-good ways to make a difference.

Give because it’ll make you happy.

Children don’t mind if it’s “The Cat in The Hat” or a baby sloth learning how to nap.

What’s important is building a community of young readers living in a safe, loving environment.

Especially the ones still in the squeal and gurgle stage of their lives.

How you can help

For information on how you can contribute, go to wakeupandread.org/book-drive-2022/

Bill Church is executive editor of The News & Observer and the Herald-Sun.

This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 12:25 PM.