The children of Kids in Harmony Preschool were treated to a live reading with author Deborah Fanny Miller, presented by the Central Alberta Poverty Reduction Alliance (CAPRA).

The event was one of several around the City presented by CAPRA in honour of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Oct. 17th. Other events include a book exchange in partnership with the Red Deer Public Library (RDPL), literacy promotion through author readings and free library cards.

“Our preschool promotes literacy for that age – a lot. It’s not only at the school, but we like to promote it at home, too. We like to get the parents reading to their kids because it helps develop their language skills,” said Jordanne Morrison, a teacher at Kids in Harmony.

The preschoolers headed upstairs from their classroom and into the Victory Church where they enjoyed a reading and presentation from Miller, who read her book Grappling with the Grumblies. The kids grumbled, danced, laughed and joined in the actions lead by Miller for an enjoyable morning.

Morrison said that each of the children was thoroughly entertained and excited to receive their new books. She said Miller was fantastic with the children, and that all of them enjoyed the interactive reading experience.

After the story, the kids were invited into the church foyer to take part in a book exchange. RDPL had a number of books for the children to choose from, and each left with two new books. Kids in Harmony will be starting a new book exchange program within the preschool to promote recycling books and even helping others by donating.

“We went up to the book exchange because it’s a new program with the public libraries that we learned about. We wanted to teach children another way to get new books. It’s not always convenient to run out to Chapters and spend $40 on a book. This is another way that they can get new books and help out other families to get new books as well,” said Morrison.

As part of the program, CAPRA took to elementary schools and high schools to promote similar programs with varying themes according to age. All of the presentations were designed to embrace the power of literacy and allowed all attendees the chance to receive a free library card.

kmendonsa@reddeerexpress.com