A smile. A book. A better wait at the courthouse.

NORFOLK

The book passes from Sherrill Hurwitz's hands to a little boy, who sits immediately to read it.

"That says, 'Busy, Busy Day,' " Hurwitz tells him, reading the title. She hands books to the boy's sisters, even smaller than he. "And that says 'Barnyard Dance.' And that says 'There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.' "

The siblings sit in a crowded waiting room at the Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. It's noisy and tense, a room filled with people on hard benches waiting, sometimes for hours, to be called before a judge on criminal cases, child custody and support matters, delinquency petitions, domestic violence allegations.

It's not much of a place for kids. Until Hurwitz arrives, clutching a pile of children's books and magazines, approaching every tyke in the room with a booming "good morning" and a free book to help pass the time.

Hurwitz began coming to the juvenile courthouse as a volunteer a couple years ago. That was after she retired from more than 30 years working with children, first as a Child Protective Services worker and then as an elementary school guidance counselor. Working at the courthouse has given her the chance to see children's eyes shining when she hands them a copy of "Frog Knows Best" or "Boys' Life" magazine.

"It's the first job I've ever had in my life that I felt appreciated," she said.

Judge Jerrauld Jones of the juvenile court conceived the program Hurwitz runs, called "Leap into Literacy."

The premise: get kids to read while they're waiting, while you have a captive audience. Jones' motives and Hurwitz's dedication to the effort are linked to what they see in the courthouse each day: Reading levels are early predictors of academic success or failure. And academic failure is often a precursor to delinquent, sometimes criminal, behavior.

So Hurwitz collects books, accepts donations from judges and universities, writes to children's magazines to ask for stacks of subscriptions.

"We can't fix it at 15," Hurwitz says of some of the youths she sees at the court. "We can fix it at 3 or 4."

She's about 5 feet tall, so she can easily get close to the smallest children. On days when it's not too busy, she sits on the floor to read to children from the books she hands out.

"I see her hunkered down with those kids, and they're hanging on her every word," Jones said.

Some of the judges also rely on her to counsel some of the juveniles facing delinquency or criminal charges.

"A lot of kids just need somebody to talk to," Jones said, "somebody to listen and connect with. Sherrill seems to have all those things."

Kevin Moran's office is just down the hall from Hurwitz's, a small space crowded with books teetering on every surface. He has known and worked with Hurwitz for more than 25 years and still marvels at her dedication to children.

"She goes to an awful lot of trouble to place the right book with the right child," Moran said. "I've seen mothers, parents and their kids leaving the building with books, being excited about the books."

Hurwitz gathers another pile of books to make another pass through the courthouse waiting rooms. She notices another set of empty-handed youngsters.

"I'm going to give you a book, and you a book," she says.

Michelle Washington, (757) 446-2287, michelle.washington@pilotonline.com