Q&A with Anika Noni Rose

Reading Girl

On March 2, more than 45 million adults and children will help celebrate NEA’s Read Across America Day, including actress Anika Noni Rose of the recent movie Dreamgirls. That day, Rose will honor RAA’s 10th anniversary and the 50th birthday of the Cat in the Hat at a celebrity Red Carpet Read-In at the New York Public Library.

What message are you hoping to deliver to kids?

Rose: Reading is fun! It’s not just homework but also home-fun. It doesn’t matter how fast or slow you read, or how big or small the book is. It allows you to take yourself places you’ve never been or even dreamed of.

Can you tell us about your own favorite children’s books?

Rose: I love Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day, Michael Brown’s Santa Mouse, and Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are .

Who helped you develop a love of reading?

Rose: I was a very early reader and unfortunately, kids sometimes don’t take kindly to what they perceive as overachieving. Mrs. Lucy Nevers was my second-grade teacher, and she made certain that every child in her class felt good about their work. That’s important, because I think peer pressure can turn children’s pride into a stigma. Like Mrs. Nevers, we need to reward the desire to learn and teach children to support each other—it’s important they know it’s OK to learn.

But my father is probably most responsible for my love of reading. The first stories I remember him reading with me are Romeo and Juliet and Aesop’s Fables. I actually had a fish that I named Othello. We would read together every night. Then, when I got older, I’d say good night and then whip out my flashlight and read under the covers.

Who was your favorite teacher?

Rose: My favorite teacher is my grandmother. She didn’t teach me in a classroom, but she did teach special education in Hartford Public Schools.

She was, and is, amazing. To this day, we will run into former students of hers and they’ll talk about how she changed their lives and made them feel like they could “do.”

For more information about NEA’s Read Across America, including book lists and other resources for educators, go to www.nea.org/readacross .