I’m beyond pleased this weekend to have been chosen as a “Celebrity Reader” for Bay Minette’s annual Read Aloud Day, though I agree with Bay Minette City Attorney Scott Lewis that having me there is a stretch of the definition of a “celebrity.”

I’ve enjoyed reading my entire life, and encouraging children to read and love reading has always been a passion of mine, one instilled by my father.

My dad, the reigning Cliff McCollum, made a point to try to read to me every night, even when I got to the wonderfully precocious point of correcting his pronunciation of words.

He came and read to my class throughout my grade school years, earning him the status of “Cool Dad” within my peer group for years to come.

One of the many joys of working at my old newspaper, the Opelika Observer, usually happened a few times during each school year, when Editor Fred Woods would pop his head into my office and say those wonderful words:

“You wanna go read at Darden with us tomorrow?”

For years now, Fred and other members of the Opelika Kiwanis Club have joined with Jean Dean Reading is Fundamental and the indomitable Cathy Gafford to read books and give out copies to the children at the Darden Head Start Program.

Gafford always warmed the kids up when we got there by telling them why all these strange looking adults are barely fitting in the kids’ tiny chairs.

She let them come to us to pick out their book, the one we’ll put their name in and that they can then call their very own from then on.

For some, sadly, it might be the first book they own, or one of the only ones in their home.

Then, we’d split into groups and read the books with the kids, asking them to help us along as we read.

Young though these tykes may be, they have a wisdom and humor about them that is beyond their years.

Cases in point:

Case I: Cliff is reading “Hattie and the Fox” one morning at Darden Head Start with three kids

Cliff: What noise does a goose make?

Little girl: Mooooooooooo.

Cliff: Uh huh. And where did you meet this mooing goose?

Little girl: My grandmama got one.

(Well, that showed me, didn’t it?)

Case II: Cliff notices an interesting name inside of a kid's book (Michael Jackson) as he’s attempting to read with him

Cliff: Michael, do you know that there’s a famous singer who was named Michael Jackson?

Michael: Yeah, I’m named after him. He was the King of Thrillers!

Cliff: ... Yes. Yes, he was, son.

While events like these are supposed to be fun for the kids involved, I always found I’ve been able to get a good deal of joy out of the experience myself.

Encouraging reading in children is an investment that will pay dividends of knowledge throughout that child’s life, so why not start that account today?

Cliff McCollum is managing editor of Gulf Coast Media. He can be reached at cliff@gulfcoastmedia.com.