By GABRIELLE SHIOZAWA
Moapa Valley Progress
The Overton Library was bustling with activity on Friday as the annual kickoff for the Summer Reading Program took place.
Head librarian April Heath started out the day’s activities by playing “Can’t Wait to Celebrate” by musician Jim Gill, who will be performing at the library later this summer. Kids clapped, jumped, and stomped their feet along with the music.
“We have a whole bunch of fun activities lined up all summer long!” Heath told the children.
She told them that filling out a reading log over the summer will allow readers to earn free books and enter their names into a prize drawing.
Next, librarian Christina Earon read “Chicken Story Time” by Sandy Asher, a story about chickens who flock to the library to listen to stories and befriend children along the way. The tale was enlivened by April Heath and Naomi Harris, who used chicken hand puppets to ensure that everybody was engaged.
Heath explained that one of the library’s goals for this year’s Summer Reading Program is to make storytelling more interactive and have the children participate more in order to truly bring the books to life.
So, when Naomi Harris brought out “Anything Is Possible” by Giulia Belloni and Marco Trevisan; a story about a sheep and wolf who work together to build a flying machine after admiring birds in flight; she made sure that the kids were involved. Several young volunteers received finger puppets of different birds, which they were invited to use in telling the story. Earon and Heath lent their hands as well, entertaining the children with their sheep and wolf hand puppets.
Everyone ran outside afterward to eat bowls of ice cream, sprinkles, and whipped cream in the shade.
A special surprise came next when it was announced that Janet Lenox, a Las Vegas balloon animal sculptor, was waiting inside. Lenox created complex crowns, swords, and animals for a crowd of wildly enthusiastic children.
Shannon Jourdan and her daughter Lexi are regular attendants of the Summer Reading Program. “We’ve been coming for about four years,” said Shannon. “[The Summer Reading Program] gets them excited about reading. They have a lot of different activities for the kids. It gets them here to the library to look at books.”
Lexi’s comment was simply this: “I like books!”
Her mother continued, “She loves to read and she loves getting free books after she’s read so many hours. They have a huge variety [to choose from].”
