Healing the Pain, a Page at a Time

Ann Garrett wrote a book that she thought her children could understand.

In it, a young boy confronts his fear of alligators so that he can watch over his ailing grandfather’s swamp. As the boy tries to feed an alligator, his grandfather warns him to keep his distance. “A young ‘un like you is just a snack,” he tells the boy.

Not the most cheerful scenario, admits Garrett, a crisis counselor at Five Acres, a residential treatment center in Altadena for emotionally disturbed children. But it’s the type of situation that the children at the treatment center, many of them survivors of physical and sexual abuse, can relate to.

“You don’t know what my kids have been through,” Garrett said. “They’ve been beaten, they’ve almost been killed. The theme [of the alligator story] comes from the children because they’ve had to face their fears, and heal. They’re little heroes.”

Garrett chooses books with themes that the children can apply to their lives for Five Acres’ 7-year-old bibliotherapy program.

Garrett calls bibliotherapy “the right book for the right kid at the right time” because the book fulfills a specific academic or emotional need that the child has. During bibliotherapy, 19 children who live at Five Acres are teamed up with tutors who read to and with them.

The children, most of them in court-ordered protective custody and students at a private school located at the center, spend about 18 months at the facility. The tutors make a one-year commitment to each child.

Garrett said the tutoring program, which operates on an annual budget of about $10,000, is financed by private sources.

Each child’s performance on reading exams is reviewed and a curriculum is adapted for them. Most have not been exposed to many books and have had few educational opportunities, she said.

“Their families have crumbled in some way, shape or form,” she said. “They’re angry, they’re upset.”

Carolyn Leach, a tutor for four years, can attest to that. A child she once tutored became so frustrated during a session that he pulled his arm back and aimed for Leach’s face.

“But he stopped,” she said faintly, “and that was a real step for him.”

Garrett and her tutors are willing to speak little of the children’s family situations. The children’s names are kept confidential because of their ages.

The child Leach tutors now, a 9-year-old boy, cannot read very well, but he says he enjoys his sessions with Leach. At a recent session he read “Letters and Their Sounds,” a book that Garrett said would help him master the basics of reading.

“It’s cool,” said the boy, who smiled a lot and seemed unable to sit still. “I want to stay in it forever.”

Tutoring the boy requires a lot of patience, Leach said. As Leach read to him in a gentle voice, his attention strayed to a workbook and the pair of scissors in his hands. Then he ran out of the room, with Leach chasing him.

“Sometimes it doesn’t always work smoothly,” Leach said as she guided him back to his chair and continued their lesson.

She wants the youngster to have a better life, and she’s willing to help him do that, Leach said, her eyes filling with tears.

Becky Kutzer, a South Pasadena mother of four, said she has similar hopes for the 11-year-old girl she tutors. Their alliance has produced results.

“I like reading,” the girl said shyly. “That’s my favorite subject in school.”

Lately, she has been reading Bill Cosby’s three “Little Bill” books, which use humor to address topics such as learning to appreciate differences and thinking positively about oneself.

The mere fact that the tutors spend time with the children is almost as important as the reading they do, Garrett said.

For many of the children, the tutors are their only visitors. Parents and other relatives often stay away.

Before and after the tutoring, Garrett moderates a group discussion with the tutors.

“So how did it go?” she asked 10 tutors after a recent session.

“He’s mumbling again,” said Frank Brill, a retired film producer who tutors an 11-year-old boy.

But they are making progress, Brill said. The boy is opening up and reading better.

“It’s going to take time for him to trust you,” Garrett said.

Brill, a soft-spoken and gentle man, said he is dedicated to seeing dramatic changes in the boy.

“He accepts the fact that I’m going to be here every week,” Brill said. “Every week.”

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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LIVING

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