Sharing the Magic

Like many chapter books for preteens, Where the Red Fern Grows packs a lot of emotional growth into its final pages as readers see a youngster named Billy embark on a transition from childhood to young adulthood.

Imagine if you had read nearly the entire book but then never got to finish it.

That’s just the scenario nearly two dozen Hoover Elementary School fourth graders were facing this past spring when it became obvious, with less than a week of classes left, that their reading group was not going to be able to finish Where the Red Fern Grows before summer break.

That near-crisis provided the perfect opportunity for the Tulsa Literary Coalition to write a coming-of-age story of its own.

The 501(c)(3) organization, which operates the independent, nonprofit bookstore Magic City Books downtown, had begun a pilot program only a couple of months earlier in which it gave books—either as classroom sets or for the students to take home as their own—to fourth graders in 15 classrooms at 11 Tulsa Public Schools Title 1 elementary schools.

From March through May, the program, called Share the Magic, had given away 417 books—247 as classroom sets and 170 as take-home books.

But when organizers were contacted four business days before the end of school with an urgent request for 20 copies of Where the Red Fern Grows, they hoped they were up to the challenge.

“It was just super fun to be able to deliver those on the last day of school for them to take home,” said Jenna Akuma, executive director of the Tulsa Literary Coalition.

Akuma said the happy, relieved faces helped seal the fate of the now-expanding Share the Magic program.

“That’s the whole point – to help them cultivate that love of reading,” she said.

Starting and expanding the program

Beginning this fall, the coalition is expanding Share the Magic to all Tulsa Public Schools elementary schools, making the program available to students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Akuma introduced the program to educators and school librarians during back-to-school professional development so teachers would know how to request books for their classrooms and students.

But even though the program is no more than a toddler itself, its genesis goes back to 2023, when the Tulsa Literary Coalition sponsored a talk by highly acclaimed children’s author Carole Lindstrom at Mayo Demonstration School.

As Akuma watched the children respond to Lindstrom’s presentation, she thought to herself, “This would be so amazing if we could figure out a way to give these kids books.”

She said she worked with the coalition’s board over the next three years to create a program not so dependent on an author tour.

What they came up with was Share the Magic, through which teachers and librarians submit a form listing their top three book choices and indicating whether they want classroom sets or take-home books.

“We feel like the teachers know their students best and know their classrooms best,” Akuma said, adding that the coalition is best suited to drumming up financial support for the program and procuring and delivering the goods.

“We have this resource and we have access to these books, and we want to do more for our community, especially the children in our community, to grow this love of reading,” she said. “This is something we can do, so let’s do it.”

Akuma knows that free books or not, some kids just aren’t going to love reading, and that’s OK.

“But if we get some who do, it’s totally worth it.”

Help Share the Magic

Proceeds from Magic City Books help fund the Tulsa Literary Coalition’s literary programming, including children’s story times, book fairs, author events and programs like Share the Magic.

Those who would like to help put more books into the hands of Tulsa Public Schools students can also make a donation specifically to Share the Magic. Donations can be made in person at Magic City Books or online by visiting magiccitybooks.com and clicking “Support.”

While the program has the potential—and community support—to grow even further, Executive Director Jenna Akuma said the coalition’s focus for now is on making this year’s expansion to all TPS elementary schools a success.

Sharon Bishop-Baldwin is a Tulsa-area freelance writer who also publishes the Sand Springs Line on Substack. She’s a cat mom who raises foster kittens for adoption and also a wildlife rehabilitator who raises raccoons and squirrels for release back to the wild.