Students at a small elementary school in the UK got a special treat whenCamilla, Duchess of Cornwallread a poem live on the school’s radio station while visiting the school Thursday.
The 71-year-old, who has long campaigned toincrease reading and literacy, read lines out of Roald Dahl’s “Television,” which satirizes the impact of the screen on kids, at White Rose Primary School in New Tredegar, South Wales.
She recited:
“THEY … USED … TO … READ! They’d READ and READ,AND READ and READ, and then proceedTo READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!One half their lives was reading books!The nursery shelves held books galore!”
The couple’s visit was part of their annual Wales Week, which they spend traveling the nation and visiting many local charities and organizations.
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After the reading at the school, the Duchess handed the children a small selection of books for their library and thanked them for reading aloud other parts of Dahl’s poem.
“It’s a pretty good poem. I’m glad you are all very keen readers,” she said. “You will have to keep away from that television screen!”
The Duchess asked some of the children what they had been reading — and the answers includedJ.K. Rowling, the Narnia chronicles and David Walliams.
Upstairs,Prince Charleswas saluting the school’s students for their physical fitness: The 280-children school recently received an award from theWelsh Network of Healthy School Schemesfor reaching the highest standards in promoting health among children and staff.
Prince Charlesalso learned the Welsh language words for cucumber, tomato and melon.
On their way into the school, Camilla and Charles walked through a line of locals and young schoolchildren. Charles tickled Aidan Wallace, six months, under the chin with a soft toy dragon the prince had just been given.
“Are you going to give me a smile?” Charles asked — andunlike yesterday, it seemed to work.
“He did give him a little smile,” the child’s mom, 31-year-old Rozanna Anderson, said.
At the end of their visit, the couple listened to the school’s nine- and 10-year-olds show off their singing talents under the tutelage of the Aloud charity, which inspires kids to improve their lives through singing.
“You will remember this for the rest of your lives,” Tim Rhys-Evans, from theAloud charity, told them. “And please remember, it was singing together that made this happen.”
source: people.com
