CHILDREN'S BOOK WEEK IS COMING UP

     Next week we will be celebrating Children's Book Week...May 13 through 17...just as many libraries across the nation will be doing.
     And we need to remind you that Clifford the Big Red dog will be here for a "Meet and Greet" on Tuesday, May 14th, at 4 p.m.  In fact, there are children's events lined up for the whole month of May.
     If you do not know what Children's Book Week is, let me share this information with you.
     Children's Book Week is the annual celebration of books for young people and the joy of reading.  Established in 1919, Children's Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country.  Every year commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, and home - wherever young readers and books connect!
     Children's Book Week is administered by Every Child A Reader, a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children.  The Children's Book Council, the national non-profit trade association for children's book publishers, is an anchor sponsor.
     While watching the news at 6 p.m. the other day, I heard one of the news anchors talk about Children's Book Week.  He asked his co-anchors to name their favorite children's book, and one anchor said hers was Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree."
     I have to admit that is my favorite book also.  In fact, I've not only given it as gifts, I have received it as a gift twice.
     The book details the events occurring throughout the life of a young boy, and the friendship that he shares with a tree—with which he is apparently able to communicate.
     In his childhood, he enjoys climbing her branches and enjoying imaginative play with her; however, as he gradually passes into maturity his requests from the tree change.
     After entering adolescence, he requests to pick her apples with which to make profit, and after reaching adulthood he cuts off the tree's limbs to construct a house.
     Years later, he returns to the lonesome Giving Tree as an old man to cut her down and use her wood to craft a boat with which to sail away, reducing her to nothing more than a stump.
     However, eventually he returns to his friend, asking for a resting place, and peacefully drifts off to sleep on the tree stump, the only thing the tree has left to give.
     If you have a favorite children's book, let us know.  And if you're near a library this coming week, take time to stop by.  In fact, if you have a youngster, bring that child to the library.  You just might find lots of events going on to enjoy.  Better yet, you'll find lots of books that not only the child will enjoy, but you will too.
     And if you're in Moultrie, Georgia, be sure to check us out!!!
(Sources: Children's Book Week at www.bookweekonline.com and "The Giving Tree" at .wikipedia.org)