The Yukon Imagination Library — non-profit organization that gives free books to Yukon children from birth to age four — is turning 10 this year. To celebrate the milestone we have collected reading stories from families who have used the library and from a few well-known Yukoners. We will be sharing them over the next few months.
In our second column we asked the Went family in Faro to share a story about their favourite book and about how reading brought them together and set up their kids for success. Here’s what Kara Went told us:
“We signed both of our children up for the Yukon Imagination Library program because we knew how important it was to share our love of books and reading with them. Our oldest, Hunter, is now turning 10 in June and his little brother just turned eight. The boys received books each month from infancy until they turned five. They loved getting something special in the mail just for them every month!
“Our absolute favourite book that we got through this amazing program was called ABC Look At Me [by Roberta Grobel Intrater]. Our son wasn’t even a year old when he got that book and he fell in love with it right away. Every letter of the alphabet has a picture of toddler showing a facial expression that goes along with the letter and description. I am pretty sure my husband and I can still recite the entire book from memory! ‘A is for angry when I had a bad day…. B is for bashful when I’m too shy to play…’
“We read that book over and over and we even had to take it with us on numerous camping trips.
“The boys started school eager to learn and were both reading independently from a young age. They are now both voracious readers and reading years above their grade levels. We are constantly ordering books into our local library, there is always a stack of books hidden under their quilts, and they have a bin full of books for every camping trip.
“While we have given away many of the books we received from the Yukon Imagination Library to other children in our community, ABC Look At Me is still on our bookshelf and it will always bring back a lot of happy memories for our family.”
This column is provided by the Yukon Imagination Library. Visit our website at www.YukonImaginationLibrary.ca to register your child or lend your support.
