It was a stroke of genius to name children’s author Meg Medina as the Library of Congress’s official national ambassador for young people’s literature. The ambassador, selected by the Library of Congress, the Children’s Book Council, and the Every Child a Reader Foundation, travels the country, engaging communities in kids’ books and reading. Medina has long been a national treasure—the consummate book lover, book talker, and book sharer. When I was a new mom, more than a decade ago, I loved her children’s books, but was even more inspired by the passion and brilliance with which she spoke about the power of books to forge empathy and connection among us all. Her new position elevates her work and philosophy of literary citizenship, sharing her gifts with an even wider audience. And her new title got me thinking that parents, too, are literature ambassadors—or should be.
I sat down with her to talk about the ambassador role and her work to inspire the next generation of readers. Below are four of her tips for helping kids learn to love books and building literary community for your little one. Watch the video of our chat below for a taste of the signature candor, wit, and wisdom Medina’s known for.
Let Kids Choose Books
Many parents, especially those who are avid readers themselves, have specific ideas (err, “high” expectations) about what their kids should be reading. And that’s not all bad, but it may be more helpful longterm to keep an open mind and allow ample space and opportunity for them to voice their own reading preferences. When kids have input on what they read and what’s read to them, they become more invested in books and reading, she advises.
Medina had three children who were all very different kinds of readers. One daughter read well and widely, a son favored nautical adventure stories, and another daughter leaned toward Disney books and People magazine. “I remember feeling very embarrassed buying them,” Medina recalls of her eldest’s reading picks. “Like I wanted her to be reading the books with the pretty little [award-winner] seals on them and books that someone else told me were worthy.” But over time, she discovered that those pop tales aided her daughter’s reading development. The familiar characters and plots boosted her affinity for the stories, supported her reading comprehension, and motivated her to read more and more.
“There’s a really affirming feeling when a child can pick a book,” she explains. “Maybe it’s the cover. Maybe it’s that his friend told him it was a great book. Maybe he saw something about it on TV or a poster or maybe he likes the color blue and the book is blue. It really doesn’t matter. What really matters is that the child is invested in the choice. And I think we should allow for that.”
“We hate to think of ourselves as obstacles to our kids’ reading, but sometimes we are,” she adds. “Or sometimes we say that’s not a book for you, or that’s a book for somebody else. And we create these roadblocks that are, I think, ultimately detrimental to reading.”
Sell Kids on Stories
Medina’s platform as the national ambassador for children’s literature is called Cuéntame, which roughly translates to “let’s talk books.” As she goes around the country during her two-year term, she’s focused on teaching different strategies for how we all can talk to each other about books—quickly. Her favored style of book talk is just a one- to two-minute teaser. Think of it like a commercial designed to hit the highlights of the story, characters, topic, and the reason for recommending it. She pitches five or six titles during the events and also invites students to share theirs. Her enthusiasm is infectious, as evidenced by the peels of laughter and eager chatter I witnessed during her literature ambassador stop at United Community Center in Milwaukee.
Parents can take a page out of her playbook by sharing startling facts or images, asking compelling questions (and waiting for the child’s response), and clearly stating what you LOVE in the story. For example, when pitching Lubna and Pebble by Wendy Meddour, Medina opened by talking about how friends can help us through hard times or to feel less lonely, something the kids in the audience could relate to. Next she piqued their interest by asking a surprising, intriguing question: Can a pebble (a rock) be a friend? They shouted their responses. Then she previewed the beautiful story of a girl fleeing a war who finds a very special pebble. The book’s a “must-read”she told the students, because of how it explores important questions like: How do we hold onto our friends? How do we show that we care about them and that we love them? How do we hold onto hope? (Sidenote: Click here to see her reaction when I surprised her at the event.)
And a little salesmanship applies to talking up reading of all kinds—not just “literature,” she says. “Can you believe this?” is one of her go-to hooks to get kids’ attention when you want to share a passage from a newspaper, magazine, or other handy reading material. The question is a surefire way to hook your child’s attention—for a moment at least. Then it’s on you to deliver a news bite or funny passage to keep them engaged.
Leverage Libraries
Look to libraries for support on your raise-a-reader journey—and not only for the books, but for the shared experience of engaging with your community and broadening your horizons. She advises making library event listings a go-to resource for weekend activity ideas and also seeing what you can check out beyond books.
“When I travel around now to all the many libraries, there are so many great programs that are happening at the public library and sometimes really under attended,” Medina says. “I always want to remind people to check your library for the programs that they have around children, maker spaces, all of those things, because, as they come into the library they come in for one thing sometimes and then discover other interests as well and other things that draw them there.”
During her visit to the Nashville Public Library, she was impressed with its “library of things.” There, patrons can check out violins, gardening tools, blood pressure cuffs, and more. In Louisiana Parish, kids could check out toys and American Girl Dolls. “Libraries are figuring out how to position themselves in the lives of current children right now,” she says. “What are their interests? How do they spend their time? How can we maximize that and reach into literacy and into books with those things?”
Nurture Kids’ Literary Lives
According to Medina, reading books isn’t just about decoding text and understanding what’s happening. Rather, it’s an experience. It’s a reflection on the text and on our lives and the links and contrasts among them. When you discuss what you’re reading with others, that dynamic listening and sharing fosters human connection in real time and space, as well. “That’s one of the most powerful pluses of reading,” she says. “Yes, it completely helps us at school and there are practical reasons [for reading], but there’s this really essential human reason that we want kids to be able to read in community.”
Early in her career, Medina and fellow children’s author Gigi Amateau hosted a wonderful program called Girls of Summer, in collaboration with Richmond Public Library in Virginia that exemplified this spirit. I attended the annual event several times and loved hearing them pitch 18 of their favorite works—from picture books to young adult novels—that featured strong, compelling girl characters of diverse backgrounds and points of view. The fun, hands-on event featured food, prizes, and a festive vibe.
When parents bring kids to book celebrations and author talks, it can inspire the children to read widely and across many genres and experiences. Plus, it may empower them to do some writing of their own. “We had so many girls who would tell us, I’m writing a novel, I’m writing a picture book,” Medina recalls. “That’s the idea—reconnecting kids to their literary life. A literary life, when we say it that way, I worry that people think it’s very fancy and only for a certain group, but a literary life is you making sense of being human through print, through books, through things that make you think.”
What parent wouldn’t want to be an ambassador for that?
Check out the video below for insights into:
- Why book choices matter for kids
- What the National Ambassador for Children’s Literacy does for the Library of Congress and the nation
- How to talk about books in ways that make your little one want to dive in
- The importance of libraries for connecting readers to books and readers to readers
- What it means to cultivate a child’s literary life
Books referenced within the interview:
- Chrysanthemum, written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes
- Bob Books, by Lynn Maslen Kertell, illustrated by John R. Maslen and Sue Hendra
- Henry and Mudge, by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Suçie Stevenson
- Zoom at Sea, by Tim Wynne-Jones, illustrated by Eric Beddows
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