Read To Children

Vigen Guroian, a theologian and ethicist who teaches at Loyola College in Maryland, has read the important tomes by the authorities in his field. He has even written a couple of them.But to his mind, one of the best sources of moral wisdom lies in the classic fairy tales read to us when we were children.Not the sanitized Disney versions, mind you. But classics like the stories by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid," and the story of the wooden puppet who wanted to become a real boy, "Pinocchio."

Area schools, libraries and literacy programs use volunteers to help children and adults improve reading skills.Among them are:Garrett Heights Elementary School, 2800 Ailsa Ave., Baltimore, for tutoring or to read to children in kindergarten through third grade. Hours are 9 a.m. to noon on school days. Contact: Jill Hull, 410-396-6361.Ripken Learning Center, 5 E. Read St., Baltimore, to work with adults reading at low literacy levels. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 5: 30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.

The 100 Book Challenge will be launched tomorrow with a celebration at George Washington Elementary School -- one of 10 city elementaries taking part in the program aimed at %J encouraging reading and improving skills.Through a $130,000 Abell Foundation grant, the schools purchased 240 books color-coded by ability for each classroom -- more than 25,000 books in all -- to form rotating libraries from which children can choose books for reading.The program has produced dramatic results at poor, inner-city schools in Philadelphia, where it began in 1996.

HOUSTON -- Mention poor reading scores in the nation's schools and soon you'll hear about homes without books, parents who don't read to children, stunted vocabularies. And there's little debate: children in poverty start out behind their well-off peers.But research now suggests that poverty offers much less of an excuse once children start school. Proper classroom instruction can bring more than 95 percent of even the poorest readers up to national averages in a year, says a study of low-income children in suburban Houston.

Beginning Nov. 2, parents will be able to watch PBS with their children in the afternoon, then hustle on down to the library that night and help them read more about it.If spending more time with the characters and concepts introduced daily to kids on public television is a good thing, then Maryland Public Television's new "Ready to Learn Library Reading Project" is just what the doctor -- or the educator -- ordered.Presented during a luncheon at Baltimore's Clarion Hotel Wednesday as a groundbreaking partnership between MPT and Maryland's public library systems, the project will place reading stations at branches in Maryland's 23 counties and Baltimore City.

Actress Jada Pinkett, called away by Universal for a shoot, has canceled her appearance at the Walters Art Gallery on Sunday. She was going to read to children as part of "Lasting Impressions," a celebration of black history featuring an exhibit of children's book illustrations.The reading probably won't be rescheduled, the Walters says, but today at 2 p.m., pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson will read. Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke will be on hand at 2 p.m. March 30 for another free reading.

The preschoolers were excited even before Mr. Walt and Ms. Val wheeled the big Read Rover van in front of Sandalwood Elementary School in Essex for a holiday story stop."

WASHINGTON -- President Bush confessed yesterday to having said "a bad word . . . a really naughty word" in front of a lady.The elementary school children to whom the president made the admission didn't judge him too harshly, though.One of them presented him with a green bookmark in the treelike shape of Mr. Bush's least favorite vegetable, prompting him to wrinkle his nose and ask how many liked broccoli. At least half raised their hands.It all happened at the White House, where Mr. Bush read fairy tales and poems yesterday to 15 first- and second-graders from Zachary Taylor Elementary School in nearby Arlington, Va., as part of Read Aloud Day, a nationwide program to encourage adults to read to children.