Grace McAllister loves what reading does for her
Grace McAllister taught herself to read, “when I was about three or four” and she hasn’t looked back.
The precocious 7-year-old is a student at Healdsburg Charter School and a frequent library visitor, where her goal is to have read 250 books from the library by the time she finishes second grade.
What are her favorite books? “I love chapter books, sometimes with pictures, sometimes not,” she said in an interview last week. “And, I like graphic novels, especially by (author) Raina Telgemeier. She writes about her childhood and about stories she thinks up. I also like books where you can choose what happens next.”
McAllister’s love of reading hasn’t gone unnoticed at the school. “Grace is the joy of reading made manifest,” said Greta Mesics, the school librarian. “Seeing Grace with a book in her arms and a smile on her face reminds us all, teachers and students alike, that a good book is a treasure indeed.”
Mesics said the school places a strong emphasis on reading. “One of the goals of our library is to be a place where children can take ideas and questions further than the classroom,” she said. “Grace certainly does that with her clever drawings, research reading club, book review ideas and conversations about what to read next.”
Mesics added, “I am absolutely charmed by Grace, what bookish person would not be? She reads wildly and widely and well. Part of Grace’s reading success and love of reading stems from the fact that she was read to often and early as a baby and toddler. Grace has chutzpah and verve.”
And, why does McAllister love reading so much? “Every time I read it’s like time stops,” she said. “As I flip through the pages I feel like I can do anything, it takes me everywhere.”
