In a day when storytellers seem to be only beside your bed or on VH1, one man steps out of the silent crowd. This lone knight is known as Sir Readalot. But instead of inventing stories, this man chooses the classics of children’s literature as his repertoire.
Sir Readalot’s name is Rickie Birran and he works on the maintenance staff at the University. Birran always had a love for acting, storytelling, literature and working with kids.
“It just sort of evolved into this character: Sir Readalot,” he said.
Birran vows to “show young readers in a unique way that reading is important.” As Sir Readalot, Birran does selected readings and also holds marathon readings occasionally. This summer, he will read aloud for 24 hours out of the first seven Oz books at the Wizard of Oz Centennial Convention in Indiana. This will establish a new record for length of a continued reading.
But Birran does more than just read the passages — he performs them.
“I sorta specialize in wild characters,” Birran said.
For his reading of the Oz books, Birran is currently working on 72 different character voices. He says he goes through all this effort because, “I want the characters to be alive. As soon as Sir Readalot says his name, you don’t know what’s going to happen. I become the characters and the characters lead to the stories.”
When Birran recently performed in front of a second/third grade class at Howard Elementary School, the children were very entertained, he said. Now, whenever those students are not having fun reading aloud in class, Birran said the teacher asks, “How would Sir Readalot say that?”
To see the man in person, go to Borders bookstore on Saturday at 7 p.m. for his first CD release party. Birran will be reading excerpts from literary selections such as “Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “Treasure Island.” Birran has performed before at Borders reading aloud the first book of Oz.
“His performance was fantastic and the kids there really enjoyed it,” said Lillian Knutsen, community relations coordinator for Borders. Knutsen said that many kids stayed the entire four and a half hours it took to read the book.
While this all sounds good, the question lingers: Does the world really need a Sir Readalot? Birran certainly thinks so.
“We tell kids that reading is important, but can you think of everyday examples that show the value of reading?” he asked.
With Sir Readalot around, the answer is yes.