My Wow Summer Moment

To the Editor:

My wife and I were visiting family this past Fourth of July weekend. Our daughter announced that our granddaughter could read. Skeptical, I immediately went to the local library and borrowed a few books that Delainey had never seen. I asked her to read to me. She read two books to me. Sounding out many of the words, she stumbled and misread only one word. Wow! I just sat there proud as one could be. I remembered all the times both day and night that her parents, her aunts/uncles and her grandparents read to her. Prior to her bedtime, I thought of how Delainey strenuously requests —bordering on demands — that books be read to her. Since that weekend, she turned 5 in August and began kindergarten.

Reading to young children greatly enhances their chance for success in school and life. Imagine your child, your niece/nephew or your grandchild having his/her own library. Call it Imagination Library. Since its launch in Newtown this past May, fewer than 200 of Newtown’s youngest and most impressionable have been registered in Imagination Library. Newtown parents, you can do better.

Children enrolled in Imagination Library receive a free, age-appropriate book every month until their fifth birthday. It’s mailed directly to them, in their name. Imagine their anticipation and glee when their very own book arrives each month.

Prepare for your own Wow moment. Enroll your child now in Imagination Library. Go online to www.uwwesternct.org/our-work/edu/school-readiness and scroll down to Newtown. Should you prefer a hard copy approach, registration forms can be found in the children’s section of C.H. Booth Library and at the ticket office in the Edmond Town Hall lobby.

Respectfully,

Bob Merola

Ashford Lane, Newtown                                                October 4, 2011