It’s no bull!
See why these kids were so happy to hear the “Story of Ferdinand” at this special library Story Time …
These kids and parents joined in the “Read for the Record” campaign at Midland Library and got to take home a new copy of the book, “The Story of Ferdinand”, after reading it with youth librarian Sue Ciesielski (back row, left side).
Story and photo by David F. Ashton
Just two weeks ago, Midland Library’s Story Time was a very special occasion – even if some of the participants were too young to know why.
“Today, all over the country, groups of kids are reading ‘The Story of Ferdinand’ (the Bull) by Monroe Leaf,” explained Midland’s youth librarian Sue Ciesielski. “It’s part of a program called ‘Read for the Record’ put on by an organization called JumpStart.”
By reading “The Story of Ferdinand” together on Sept 20, Ciesielski went on, the Midland Library group joined the effort to break the record for the largest “shared reading experience” ever — 150,000 people — set on August 24, 2006, as part of a movie promotion in which several of our local schools participated.
“The story was a little longer story than our preschool Story Time kids are used to. But, they were very attentive,” said Ciesielski.
At the end of Story Time, each of the children registered their participation in the event. And, they all got a free copy of the book to take home for their very own. The smiles on their faces indicated how much they liked both the story — and their new book.
That afternoon, the library held a bilingual “Read for the Record” in both English and Spanish.
According to JumpStart, a national nonprofit organization that engages preschool children from low-income communities in an intensive early education program, the day was a success. Nationwide, the event had the documented participation of 258,000 readers.
© 2007 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News Service