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The reading promise : my father and the books we shared

by Ozma, Alice.

Format: Print Book 2011
Availability: Available at 9 Libraries 9 of 9 copies

Available (9)
Location Collection Call #
Andrew Carnegie Free Library Nonfiction 028.9 OZMA
Location  Andrew Carnegie Free Library
 
Collection  Nonfiction
 
Call Number  028.9 OZMA
 
 
Brentwood Library Nonfiction Books & Reading
Location  Brentwood Library
 
Collection  Nonfiction
 
Call Number  Books & Reading
 
 
CLP - Main Library Second Floor - Non-fiction Z1003.2.O96 2011
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  Second Floor - Non-fiction
 
Call Number  Z1003.2.O96 2011
 
 
Northland Public Library Nonfiction 028.9 OZ6
Location  Northland Public Library
 
Collection  Nonfiction
 
Call Number  028.9 OZ6
 
 
Oakmont Carnegie Library Non-Fiction 028.9 OZ
Location  Oakmont Carnegie Library
 
Collection  Non-Fiction
 
Call Number  028.9 OZ
 
 
Penn Hills Library Non-Fiction 028.9 OZM
Location  Penn Hills Library
 
Collection  Non-Fiction
 
Call Number  028.9 OZM
 
 
Pleasant Hills Public Library Nonfiction 028.9 O99
Location  Pleasant Hills Public Library
 
Collection  Nonfiction
 
Call Number  028.9 O99
 
 
Sewickley Public Library Nonfiction 028.9 0ZM 2011
Location  Sewickley Public Library
 
Collection  Nonfiction
 
Call Number  028.9 0ZM 2011
 
 
Springdale Free Public Library Adult Nonfiction 028.9 OZMA
Location  Springdale Free Public Library
 
Collection  Adult Nonfiction
 
Call Number  028.9 OZMA
 
 

Summary
When Alice Ozma was in 4th grade, she and her father decided to see if he could read aloud to her for 100 consecutive nights. On the hundreth night, they shared pancakes to celebrate, but it soon became evident that neither wanted to let go of their storytelling ritual. So they decided to continue what they called "The Streak." Alice's father read aloud to her every night without fail until the day she left for college.

Alice approaches her book as a series of vignettes about her relationship with her father and the life lessons learned from the books he read to her.

Books included in the Streak were: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, the Oz books by L. Frank Baum, Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, and Shakespeare's plays.
Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "*Starred Review* It started out as an ambitious, but achievable, task. A father would read to his nine-year-old daughter 100 nights in a row. Celebrating their victory over breakfast at their favorite greasy spoon, however, the daughter proposed a new challenge, one with a Scheherazadean twist. Why not read for 1,000 nights? But Jim Brozina and his daughter Alice didn't stop at 1,000, just like they didn't stop when Alice's mother ended the marriage, or when her older sister went abroad for a year, or when Jim caught the flu, or when Alice went to the prom. Only one thing could terminate their routine. When Jim moved Alice into her dorm room, some 3,218 nights later, The Streak, as they called it, came to an end. Not long out of college, Ozma has written a memoir as rich and revealing, witty and warm, confident and compassionate as works by people who may have been around a few more blocks, but who probably haven't read as many books. Persuasive and influential, poignant and inspirational, Ozma's exuberant paean to the joys and rewards of reading and being read to is a must-read treasure for parents, especially, and bibliophiles, certainly.--Haggas, Caro. Copyright 2010 Booklist"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "Named for two literary characters ("Alice" from Lewis Carroll and "Ozma" from L. Frank Baum), the author is the daughter of a Philadelphia-area elementary school librarian. Father and daughter embarked on a streak of reading-out-loud sessions every night before bed as Ozma was growing up. At first they decided on 100 nights straight of reading before bed-a minimum 10 minutes, before midnight, every night, no exceptions-then it stretched to 1,000, and soon enough the author was headed to college and they had spent eight years straight reading before bedtime, from Oz stories to Shakespeare. Reading with her father offered a comforting continuity in the midst of her mother's disquieting move away from the family, her older sister's absence as a foreign exchange student, and the parsimoniousness of her single father. Ozma's account percolates chronologically through her adolescence, as father and daughter persevered in their streak of nightly reading despite occasional inconveniences such as coming home late, sleepovers (they read over the phone), and a rare case of the father's laryngitis. Ozma's work is humorous, generous, and warmly felt, and with a terrific reading list included, there is no better argument for the benefits of reading to a child than this rich, imaginative work. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved."
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
Subjects Ozma, Alice -- Books and reading.
Brozina, James -- Books and reading.
Books and reading -- United States.
Books and reading -- Psychological aspects.
Oral reading.
Fathers and daughters -- United States -- Biography.
Publisher New York :Grand Central Publishing,2011
Edition First edition.
Language English
Description xviii, 279 pages ; 22 cm
Bibliography Notes Includes bibliographical references (pages [273]-279).
ISBN 9780446583770 (hardcover)
0446583774 (hardcover)
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