Encouraging kids to read is wonderful, and such a confidence booster.
At the event, Thompson said she planned to read “Carl and the Kitten” to the cat. “This is the first time,” she said of her participation in the program. “We’re really excited about it. I want to be a pet store owner.”
via www.somdnews.com
The event, “Paws to Read,” began four years ago as a means for early or struggling readers to develop their skills by reading to a listener who would not criticize them, Children’s Department Coordinator Beverly Izzi said. “It’s an opportunity for a beginning reader or a reluctant reader to read to an animal, and an animal’s just a good listener,” Izzi said. “They’re not gonna correct them. So it’s a really positive experience.”
Izzi said six therapy pets and their owners signed up to volunteer their ears for the event — five dogs and one cat. Though the cat arrived about an hour in, it was the first year the event ever had a cat since most therapy pets, animals that are trained to be calm in a public setting, are dogs, she said.
Carol Thompson, 5, of Prince Frederick, a pre-school student and avid lover of cats, held out for as long as she could waiting for the feline audience to arrive, and Izzi said she was glad it finally worked out that Thompson could read to the cat.
“She had a birthday party to go to, but she really didn’t care about the party,” Izzi laughed on Monday.
At the event, Thompson said she planned to read “Carl and the Kitten” to the cat. “This is the first time,” she said of her participation in the program. “We’re really excited about it. I want to be a pet store owner.”
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