The Allen County (IN) Public Library has Paws to Read, a program where trained therapy dogs and their handlers listen to children read. My five-year-old was thrilled to share stories with Ranger last night at the Grabill Branch Library. I say “share” because he is not reading yet, but the handler kindly read the books while he listened with Ranger.
“What story did you pick? A dog story?” I asked him.
“Yes, and a cat story because he lives with two cats and doesn’t even chase them. Can you believe that?”
I can. I also know that it was an excellent library experience for him and that when he does start reading independently, reading to Ranger will be wonderful practice.
In the April 2, 2010, Spotlight: Reading to Rover, Pat Bailey of the University of California – Davis News Service writes, “Kids, dogs and a good book are a great combination, according to researchers in UC Davis’ School of Veterinary Medicine – and they have the data to back that up.” The researchers and Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation of Walnut Creek, Calif., collaborated on two studies, both showing an improvement in children’s reading fluency after sessions of reading to a dog.
— posted by Teresa Walls
Jeanette Larson
Learn more about animal programs in libraries at the ALA Conference. Sit, Paws, Read will be a panel including author Dori Butler on Sunday at 8:00 a.m. in WCC-145B.