Dick Robinson, Chairman, President and CEO of Scholastic shares insights on reading:

- Your company, Scholastic is known worldwide as a source of extraordinary inspiration for children, teachers and parents. How has children's literature itself inspired your company to its core values?

The core values of Scholastic are helping children understand the world (nonfiction) and learn the power of great stories to define what it is to be human.

- Is there a particular book that has changed your life in some way?

Yes: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

- How has what you've read influenced you professionally?

Our company finds readers for all kinds of books.

- What advice would you give to teachers, parents and caregivers who want to reach their struggling readers?

Make it easy and fun and relevant.

- What book do you think young people should not miss?

Harry Potter.

- Do you have a memory of someone reading aloud to you that changed you in some way?

I remember my mother reading The Little Engine that Could to me.

- It is said that stories and poems teach values. Is there one value in particular that has inspired your life and your good work that might connect back to a book that was either read to you or that you read on your own?

Resilience. The Little Engine that Could.

- What do you think is most essential for teachers, parents and caregivers to do in order to nurture a child to become a lifelong reader?

Make it easy. Model it. Make it fun. Ask questions. Discuss.

- What do you think the future holds for readers?

Print and digital combinations.

- Will you share with us some final meditations on the power of the read aloud and of reading in general to the emotional lives of children?

Build resilience, understanding, self esteem, confidence.

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