‘Readers are made on the laps of their parents’

Laugh with Captain Underpants. Practice responsibility with the Baby-Sitters’ Club. Explore Prince Edward Island with Anne of Green Gables. Gaze into the sky with Panda and Parrot in Stego-Cumulus.

To have these experiences, and many more as they grow, young readers need a solid foundation from their earliest years, and that’s where the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program comes in. It’s a simple way to build a love of reading in babies and toddlers. Sign up at any branch of the library and you’ll receive a tracking sheet and a book to get you started. From there, keep track of all the books you read with your young child, with the goal of reading 1000 Books before the start of school.

Author Mem Fox said, “Readers are made on the laps of their parents,” (or caregivers). Reading with young children from a very early age has lifelong benefits and tracking the books you are reading together can be one way to remind you to keep doing it. Life with small children is busy, and sometimes a tracking sheet stuck to the refrigerator can be the reminder you need to read another book before the end of the day. Repetition is important, so reading the same book over and over (and over!) again counts too – you don’t need to aim for 1000 different books.

As you reach milestones along the way, library staff will help celebrate with stickers, bookmarks and other small prizes to share. Additionally, library staff are available to help you find great picture books to read together – whether classics you might remember from your own childhood or new titles by authors you may not yet know.

Prince Edward County families are clearly passionate about early literacy, with storytimes at the Picton Branch on Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings at 10:30 a.m. reaching record high attendances. A new Saturday storytime has also been added at the Wellington Branch at 10:30 a.m.

This increased attendance also means an increase in children’s books being read and loved. Our thanks to everyone who donates their “points” at Books and Company to the library. This long-running program allows us to purchase more children’s books for the library and we’re so grateful to Books and Company and their shoppers for making this possible. You can also donate at Canadahelps.org and direct your donation to the children’s book collection.

Early literacy is such an important foundational skill that will serve your child throughout their life, and it all starts at the public library. Drop in to any branch of the library to register for the 1000 Books (or more) program and start your young learner off on a lifetime of learning.

Click here to see past interesting library columns by Liz Zylstra