===========================================================================
Mrs. Bush's Statement During a Visit to the Charles Dickens House and
Museum
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release Office of the First Lady June 16, 2008

Mrs. Bush's Statement During a Visit to the Charles Dickens House and
Museum Charles Dickens House and Museum London, United Kingdom

˙˙Photos


10:08 A.M. (Local)

MRS. BUSH: One of the reasons I really wanted to come to the Charles
Dickens house is because I think it's so important for us as
English-speaking people to be aware of what our literature is, and
certainly Charles Dickens is very well known and very popular and studied
in the United States.

"A Tale of Two Cities" is one of the books that high school students in the
United States read and study. And then obviously "A Christmas Carol" is one
of the favorites of all Americans, and many American families read "A
Christmas Carol" together at Christmastime. And then Ford Theatre, the
famous theater where Lincoln loved to go and where he was assassinated,
produces "A Christmas Carol" every year, and many, many families in
Washington, they've got a tradition to go there. We did with our girls when
they were little and we lived in Washington back in the '80s.

And then this year, because Ford Theatre is closed for renovation and to
add a very nice visitors center next door, they came and produced a part of
the play at the White House for our Christmas party that we had for our --
the children's Christmas party that the President has traditionally every
year at the White House.

So I think it's really important for all of us to continue to read
literature. There are a lot of studies now that show a lot of Americans are
what is called alliterate -- they can read but they don't. They work on a
computer or they watch television. And it will be a huge loss for all of us
if we don't read our literature, because that's how our ideas and our
values are transmitted from generation to generation.

So I especially wanted to pay my respects to the work of Charles Dickens by
visiting here.

END 10:10 A.M. (Local)

===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/06/20080616.html