Do you remember how many books that you read by the time that you were four-years-old? One? Two? Maybe three? Well, we bet that four-year-old Daliyah Marie Arana has got you beat! Barely in preschool, this tiny literary connoisseur has already ready read more than 1,000 books and counting.
Arana’s parents say that before she was born, she was already learning to read. While pregnant, Arana’s mother would read books to her other young children daily. When Arana was an infant, she would listen to her older brother read aloud and at 18-months- old, she began recognizing words and decided that it was her turn.
“She wanted to take over and do the reading on her own,” mother Haleema Arana commented to The Washington Post in an interview. “It kind of took off from there. The more words she learned, the more she wanted to read.”
Now, at the age of four, Arana can tout that she has read more than 1,000 books, among them, college-texts and essay. Of course, with such a veracious appetite for literature, the preschooler caught the attention of Carla Hayden, the 14th Librarian of Congress. Hayden, was so impressed by the youngster, that she invited her to visit the Library of Congress, giving Arana the opportunity to shadow her as “librarian for the day.”
It was fun to have 4-year-old Daliyah Marie Arana of Gainesville, GA as "Librarian For The Day." She's already read more than a 1,000 books. pic.twitter.com/MQfwlUrakO
— Carla Hayden (@LibnOfCongress) January 11, 2017
Hayden, who made history by becoming the first woman and first African-American to run the library, tweeted pictures of Arana’s visit from the library’s official account. “She just kept saying how the Library of Congress is her most favorite, favorite library in the whole wide world,” commented Arana’s mom.
The little bookworm definitely has her own library card and likes to check out books regularly telling the Gainsville Times that, “…I want to teach other kids to read at an early age, too.” Arana’s parents have never tested her exact reading level but say that she can read her older siblings’, ten and twelve, books that they bring home from school. Her favorite author is Mo Willems and her special interest are—dinosaurs!
As if we were not impressed enough by Arana, check out the video of her below as she reads a college-level speech entitled, “The Pleasure of Books” by William L. Phelps. We cannot wait to see what is in store for this tiny phenom!
