Chip Flaherty’s Topshelf Blog

Friday, 6/5/2009

Chip Flaherty with his son Trey.

Given that blogging has passed baseball to become our new national pastime, I figured it finally was time to put my old glove in the attic, pick up a laptop and start typing. Coincidentally, as with baseball, a lack of physical talent carries over to this new pursuit. You see in high school, many years ago, I opted to take an honors Physics course rather than the Typing Class that was offered at the same time. Decades of inefficient hunt and peck followed while, unfortunately, no one has ever asked me to explain the immutable laws of Physics or even the more pedestrian question of why a curveball curves.

This typing challenge notwithstanding, I hope this blog in the coming weeks and months can shed some light on our publishing efforts here at Walden Media, as we try to have our book division deliver the same great stories that our movies have over the years. Serving as Publisher, I work with a great team that is always looking for the next great manuscript – a manuscript that will become the book that wins a Newbery, or will become a staple in a teacher’s class, or, just as significantly, will touch one young reader in such a way that he or she will become a lifelong reader.

Now to kick off this blog, I relate a personal story that serves as a reminder of the power of books and reading. In my daughter Abby’s first grade class there is a wonderful program called Mystery Reader. Each Friday afternoon, a parent of one of the students comes in and reads to the class. The identity of the parent coming in each Friday is not shared with the kids, so there is real excitement in the class when a particular parent walks in, ending a week’s worth of speculation as to who the reader is that week.

Since September, Abby would pepper me with questions every Friday morning at breakfast – “Are you the Mystery Reader this week? Do you know who the reader is today? When are you coming in? Jillian’s mother did a craft with us after reading, do you know any crafts? What book are you going to read? How old do you have to be to wear lip gloss in school?” (Not every question on a Friday relates to the Mystery Reader.)

Finally, March rolled around and it was my turn to be the Mystery Reader. After dutifully filling out a Walden Media vacation request form for my Friday afternoon work absence (this blog may never attract a wide audience, but just in case someone from HR is reading) I went to Abby’s school, checked in at the front desk, received my visitor’s badge and was escorted to Abby’s class. The look on Abby’s face as I walked in was priceless, a look of pure surprise and happiness typically associated the announcement of a snow day, a vacation trip, or the day when I relented on her request to get her ears pierced.

Abby took her place with the rest of her classmates, sitting on the floor in a semicircle as I read The Giving Tree (note that The Giving Tree, while a classic, is not a book published by Walden Media, proving that this blog will be more than a platform to shamelessly plug our products – that being said, did I mention that all of our books, including Savvy, which recently garnered a Newbery Honor, can be purchased on amazon.com).

The kids paid terrific attention as I read, no small feat for a Friday afternoon, occasionally commenting about how the poor tree must be lonely or asking when the boy would come back. After I finished reading, the kids talked about the book and everything the book inspired them to think about and talk about. The discussion was a Hemingwayesque flow of verbal consciousness, the kids’ imagination and experiences unleashed all around the subjects that the book had touched upon.

The kids talked about trees, recycling, building tree houses, apples, how older people with dentures have to be careful when eating apples, boats, cruises, sitting in the shade, raking leaves, being a good friend, sharing, and the importance of not being selfish. This final point being brought home when Abby observed, “That tree emptied its tank for that kid.” (While I read to Abby, I also make her watch a lot of sports with me, causing some of her statements to seem as if she is simultaneously channeling John Madden and Junie B. Jones.)

As I left the class, I thought of all the great opportunities that my tenure here at Walden Media has provided – attending movie premieres, visiting movie sets during filming, speaking with celebrities. My favorite memory though is the one just shared: reading to a first grade class on a Friday afternoon in Medford, Massachusetts and being reminded not only of what a great gift reading is, but the ease in which we can all share this gift with others. To close this inaugural blog, I hope that upcoming entries shed light on our efforts and insights as we work to publish great books (and sell a good number of copies), while always remembering our most important objective – publishing books in order to inspire a new generation of readers.

Chip's Flaherty's Daughters