NEWS RELEASE:
Children’s author Chris Rumble set out with one mission, make reading fun for students, during his visit to Bucyrus Elementary School March 8.
Rumble, who calls himself “The Reading Guitar Man”, took to the stage in the historic BES auditorium and sang songs to the students about reading, all while sharing the importance of reading with students.
“Fun is the first thing I focus on because that’s the common ground where I meet the kids,” Rumble explained. “What I’m trying to do is take away the ‘ugh’ factor when it comes to reading and convey that it is fun, exciting and can change your life.”
During his visit, Rumble had the opportunity to enjoy lunch with three students whose short stories about the life of pencil earned them the privilege of dining with the author. Isabella Stang, Elizabeth Wilson, and Maseo Hall engaged in a down to earth discussion with Mr. Rumble about bringing life to characters, pursuing their dreams, and the animals on his daughter’s wall.
“The kids’ stories really struck me because of the detail and imagination, and the way they were able to transport themselves into the place of a pencil and make it so vividly alive and take the reader to that place,” said Rumble. “Those were really amazing and I’m really proud of these kids.”
Later in the day, Rumble met with families during the Elementary School’s annual Family Literacy Night. His message focused on creating a family atmosphere with a strong message of reading together without being “preacher-like”.
“I tried to share my experience of reading to my children every night and what that meant to our relationship,” explained Rumble. “It’s more than just about that book, it’s about that relationship between mom, dad and that child.”
Rumble has visited more than 1,000 schools in 39 states over his 16-year career of reading presentations. He was impressed by the focus BES places on literacy, the students’ excitement, the care of the teachers and the support of the parents.
“All the classrooms were involved and they’re (students, teachers and staff) all putting an emphasis on reading, ‘Camp Read-A-Lot’ and carrying that theme into the summer,” Rumble said. “To already be thinking about how this is going to roll into summer reading is a huge thing to accomplish.”
The annual author visit to Bucyrus Elementary School is made possible by funding from the Bucyrus Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO).
“I cannot begin to thank our PTO enough for their willingness to help with the expense of bringing Chris Rumble to the students at Bucyrus Elementary,” explained librarian Diane Kaple. “All our students, staff and parents absolutely loved Chris’ presentation and left with a sense that reading is fun for all ages.”
Visit chrisrumble.com to learn more about the children’s author. Contact BES Librarian Diane Kaple for information about the annual Right to Read Week activities at dkaple@bucyrusschools.org.