You might expect senators to say they like to read serious political
authors like Bob Woodward, or historians like Doris Kearns Goodwin. But
not Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). He’s partial to British children’s author
Roald Dahl.
And when it comes to how he likes to read the man behind classics like
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or The BFG, Harkin prefers to read
them out loud.
{mosads}That’s because the lawmaker is a volunteer reading mentor,
along with his colleague, Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), and Education
Secretary Arne Duncan, for a group called Everybody Wins! D.C., a
District literacy program that pairs volunteers and elementary school
children for lunchtime reading. Harkin goes every Tuesday.
Harkin first learned about the program from the late Sen. Edward
Kennedy (D-Mass.), a longtime reading mentor. On Tuesday night,
Kennedy’s widow, Vicki Kennedy, presented Harkin and Moran with awards
at the 15th anniversary gala for Everybody Wins! D.C.
Kennedy told the crowd how much her late husband had enjoyed coming
into District schools on Tuesdays, and how he would alter his schedule
to make sure he could be there for lunchtime reading. Regardless of
what was going on in the Senate, she said, this was his time to step
away to spend time with the kids.
Harkin feels the same way. “It’s a time when I can just turn off my
BlackBerry,” he said. Now, after years of reading in the program,
Harkin said his favorite book is “The Giant Peach.” (Umm, that’s James
and the Giant Peach, Senator, but it’s generous of him, either way.)