For our June Villager highlight, we're talking to Amy Hand, better known as Miss Amy, a beloved children's librarian in Camden, Maine. Miss Amy has been guiding children, families, and statewide librarians toward a life of reading and a love of children's books for 25 years. She embodies all the best parts of children's literature: warmth, joy, exuberance, and endless creativity.
From modeling the love of reading to kids and making the case for picture books at any age, this conversation is full of simple, lasting ways to raise lifelong readers. We hope it infuses your summer, and your whole year, with a little of what Miss Amy brings to every story.
What role do parents play in creating a love of reading?
To keep kids reading and keep that love of books alive, kids need to be read to. First of all. Number one. And parents need to be reading, too. If kids see their parents reading actual books, not just on their device, they will learn to love the weight of a book in their hands, the smell of a book. And bringing them to the library, that makes a huge difference.
The library is a free place to come, learn, and be part of the community. There are a lot of people who don't use the library, and sometimes families are busy and working around complicated schedules. But libraries have hours that accommodate everyone, with later nights and weekends. And the wonderful thing is, you don't have to have a million books in your home. You can borrow them to make a million books.
Any suggestions for families who want to build more reading into their days?
Twenty minutes a day at least! Just sit down and read. Read aloud. Read together. Read outside. Challenge your kids to read in different places. How many places can you read in a week? Can you read in bed? In the kitchen? Outside in the shade? By the ocean? Under a tree? They're such simple challenges, but they're very doable, and they change up the experience of reading, whether it's a child reading independently or being read to.
One more time! Whatever you do, please read aloud to your kids. I don't care if they're in middle school. I have parents who tell me their kids don't go into the children's room anymore, and I always say, 'They're not too big for those books.' Picture books are actually more challenging than people realize. If you look at the lexile levels alone, they can be surprisingly sophisticated.
Picture books are meant to be read aloud. They're rich. The quality is unbelievable. They are really just breathtaking. I know a fifth-grade teacher who reads picture books to his students all the time. He has them everywhere in the classroom, and the kids eat it up. Middle school does not mean no more picture books.
And another thing that I tell families is to create book rotations, just like a toy rotation. Bring out books that you haven't read in a while. There are memories attached to those books, and those memories come back when the stories come back. Having conversations, talking together, writing together, those are all part of literacy. You want all of those things connected to stories and books.
The connection! Can you talk more about how early reading reinforces this sense of connection?
Mister Rogers said, 'I'm convinced that if a child is read to by a loved one early on, that child will somehow recreate that scene themselves by reading, and when you are an adult, you might not have that person nearby, but you'll have the memory.' I've always loved that quote because it's so true. Even if you only have a few of those memories, they become visceral memories that stay with you. And even if you have a gap in your reading life, when you have children of your own, that memory often translates into reading to them. You end up recreating that core memory without even realizing it. The physical touch that's associated with a picture book cuddle, it makes me teary to think about how important that is. The connection that comes through reading is so powerful.
Last question — what does it look like when it's working?
When a child becomes a reader? Watching a child say "I read that all by myself," that validates everything. All the hard work, all the time. And then watching them want to share it with someone else. That's it. That's the whole thing.
Thank you, Miss Amy, for everything you do for all of the families, children, librarians, writers, and readers, young and old. If you're ever in Camden, Maine, stop by the magical library and meet Miss Amy, who, according to a rumor we heard, knows every child in town by name!
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