That All May Read
Written by Terry Kelly & John Meir
Published by Gun K Publishing and Wee House of Music -SOCAN
Please Mama, read to me
Show me the pictures, sing my ABC’s
Dear Papa, make up a story
Show me some magic and I’ll count to three
I want to read,
Please Mama, Papa, please,
I want to read.
He remembers the days
As a younger boy
When he learned to read and write his name.
He got the stars and the highest grades.
Her marks were poor.
She was teased and ignored.
She grew up to believe no one would ever care.
Then he came by with a valentine.
Though she struggled with each line
She would come to know in time,
That all may read
And sow the seed of self-belief.
May the power and the joy of words grow courage to fly free.
May her hopes and dreams become reality.
May she come to choose to fight the fear, to try.
Let her learn and grow as knowledge turns the pages in her life.
That all may read.
He looked into her eyes,
Past the years of disguise.
Saw her shame, frustration,
Even felt her pain.
He took her hand and they turned the page.
The road they chose
Took them away and back home.
Opening blinded eyes and minds all over the world.
Young selfless lovers with their teachers’ hearts,
Planting hope each day
With every word and every phrase
They’re bound to find the way
That all may read
And sow the seed of self-belief.
May the power and the joy of words grow courage to fly free.
May their hopes and dreams become reality
Giving others strength to fight the fear, to try.
Watching them learn and grow as knowledge flows, filling minds and lives,
That all may read.
She found freedom in the words in his valentine
The walls came down and they stepped across that line.
Shining bright for those who learn in different ways.
With the guardians of books and children,
And the gift from Louis Braille
They all light the way
That all may read
And sow the seed of self-belief
May the power and the joy of words grow courage to fly free
May their hopes and dreams become reality
May they come to choose to fight the fear, to try.
Let them learn and grow as knowledge flows through fingers, ears, and eyes
They’re opening the book
That all may read
And sow the seed of self-belief.
May the power and the joy of words grow courage to fly free.
May all hopes and dreams become reality.
May we come to choose to fight the fear to try.
Let us learn and grow as knowledge flows through fingers, ears and eyes.
That all may read.
That all may read.
That all may read
Produced by Terry Kelly & Jamie Robinson
Recorder by Donnie Chapman & Jamie Robinson
Engineered & Mastered by Donnie Chapman at DC Productions
Lead Vocals – Terry Kelly
Keyboard – Kim Dunn
Guitars – Jamie Robinson
Drums – Adam Dowling
Bass – Bruce Dixon
A unique multi-media learning and awareness project that encourages a love of reading for all.
What began as an inspirational song written and then performed by Terry Kelly at the 2006 Canadian Library Association Conference, has evolved into the library community’s battle cry for the power that reading brings to us all.
Project Goals
- Inspire children of both genders and all ages to want to read.
- Inspire adults who are having challenges learning how to read to overcome these and find the courage to seek assistance
- Provide librarians, teachers, parents and others with tools to assist in enabling people of all ages to learn to read and to love to read
- Encourage and inspire people to understand challenges faced by those struggling to improve their literacy skills and to subsequently remove the stigma.
“That All May Read” eCD/DVD educational package contains the following tools:
- The Song and Music Track
- The Music Video
- The Documentary
- Literacy and Reading Links
- Ideas for promoting the love of reading
- TAMR Lyrics and Music Lead Sheet
- Bonus Songs, Music Tracks, and Mini Documentary