A youngster gets stuck into an old time favorite, Dr Seuss.

Children are engrossed in the world of books at Cayman Brac’s public library for the first story hour in the current session. Volunteers will be helping out each weekend to give youngsters as early a start as possible with reading.

Twenty-seven eager bookworms made their way to the Cayman Brac Public Library this Saturday for the first Story Hour in the current session. Readers this week were Barbara O’Leary and Lois Thompson, who brought stories to life, read poetry, and even introduced a few life skills with a manners’ book aimed at children.

Like past sessions, other volunteers will help out on future Saturdays, and these often include older children who have attended Story Hour since they were small. “We want to get the children interested in books as early as possible in order to foster a love of reading,” said Ms Thompson, who coordinates the reading initiative with Library Assistant Lizbeth Conolly.

“Research shows that children who are read to, do better at school. They learn new vocabulary and good listening skills. We want the kids to read for fun, but they are learning and their comprehension skills are enhanced,” she said.

Readers stop from time to time to make sure the kids are listening and that they understand what is being read. Ms Thompson, who is Peripatetic Special Needs Teacher for Cayman Brac Primaries, added, “When the older kids are reading to the younger kids, they do that, too. So they are learning teaching skills, as well as reading skills.”

The Brac Story Hour started in 1997, and there have been regular sessions ever since, thanks to willing volunteers. These include Cynthia Montefusco, who made a particularly active contribution. Ms O’Leary noted that Story Hour also reinforces good social skills, since the children have to let each person speak without interruption, something many adults are guilty of.

Each reader chooses different types of books and adds a fresh perspective. Ms Thompson likes fantasy tales, while Carole Baker, another frequent reader, tends to pick books about other cultures around the world, and Ms O’Leary often reads poetry to the children.

“I love words and love to have the kids play with words. I tend to be drawn to oral and written melodies, and the rhythm experimentation of words,” said Ms O’Leary. She noted that another positive result of reading rhyming poetry is that it reinforces phonics, especially when it is done in an interactive environment during story hour.

“By becoming proficient readers, we also hope that the kids will also want to write things for fun, and start playing with words,” she said. Above all, Story Hour encourages children to come to the library, and the volunteers say they are very pleased to see their eagerness to choose books to take home after the session.

Ms Thompson pointed out that, ideally, kids should be read to every day, and that the best time is right before they go to bed. “However, if parents don’t have an opportunity to read to their children, at least on a Saturday they can bring them to Story Hour,” she said.

The sessions have been very popular in the past, and at one time, the group became so large and had such an age-range, they even had to split them into two groups, one for older and one for younger children. The present session of Story Hour will continue until Saturday, 8 April.

nicky@caymanetnews.com