BookEnds ignited the "love of reading" spark in my child.  For this I will always be indebted to BookEnds.  Now, Dylan has grown from an emerging reader into an avid reader!

At a certain point in kindergarten, Dylan became frustrated with reading and decided to “never” read aloud to others for fear of incorrectly pronouncing words and being ridiculed.   Despite much encouragement, Dylan was content to read simple board books.  Dylan’s need for greater self-confidence led me to home-schooling him in first grade.

Dylans’ older siblings were actively involved in BookEnds book drives and deliveries.   So upon learning that his home-schooling group was planning a book drive, Dylan eagerly wanted to be involved.  He helped advertise, collect, sort, count, and box books for an upcoming donation to a recipient school in Oxnard. 

As delivery day approached, Dylan’s desire to give new life to these books became overshadowed by his increasing discomfort in participating, as he knew a part of the process was reading to the children.  He was encouraged to continue and on delivery day was paired with an older child. Together, they would take turns reading aloud and the older child would be there to support Dylan if he needed it.  The older child began to read to the group. The children quickly became excited and wanted Dylan to read to them too. 

Although apprehensive, Dylan dug deep within, mustered all the courage he had, and slowly reached for one of the books and began to read aloud.  The children smiled with enjoyment and their eyes widened with anticipation, as they listened to Dylan read them the story.  Dylan felt so empowered that day, because he not only was able to see the faces of the children receiving the books, he also was able to read aloud to them and feel their exhilaration.  Upon the urging of the kindergartners, Dylan’s one book became two and then three.  Gone was that fear of mispronouncing the words.  That day, Dylan began his reading journey!

My family had always tried to help BookEnds give the gift of reading to others.  Who knew that this act of giving would result in my own son, Dylan, receiving the greatest gift of all, his own passion to read!

Belinda Sacks
BookEnds Board Member