toward love of books

Educators will go to great lengths to encourage children to read. Take Lisa Paul, for example. The Bel Pre Elementary School kindergarten teacher painted her face red and black, taped pieces of paper to her head and hands, and wore red sweats.

Paul did this to portray Clifford, a big red dog who is a popular storybook character.

Teachers like Paul and parents did their part to promote National Reading Week at Bel Pre last Thursday during Character Night.

Paul sat next to an easel that held a book titled, "Clifford's Family." The children sat anxiously on the carpet in front of Paul, with parents seated in back.

"As I read the story tonight, listen carefully so we can talk about all things Clifford's family does," Paul said.

As Paul read, the children were introduced to Claudia, a guide dog who is Clifford's sister, Nero, a rescue dog who is Clifford's brother, Bonnie, a farm dog who is Clifford's sister, and Clifford's mother.

As Clifford's mother checked his ears and teeth, Paul paused to show the children how similar their mothers are to Clifford's.

"Clifford's mom does the same thing as your mom does," Paul said.

At the end of the story, Paul asked the children, "How is Clifford's family like your family?"

One girl was able to relate.

"Clifford's family is busy and does a lot of things like my family," she said.

Parents benefit from this as well as children, Paul said.

"It is important to promote literacy," Paul said. "This brings parents and children together to show how important reading is. It's wonderful to bring the parents in and show them what we're doing. Then they have a model for their children at home."

In another classroom, counselor Mary Jane Samwell acted out the hilarious antics of Amelia Bedelia, a housemaid who takes all directions literally.

For instance, when asked to strip the sheets, Amelia Bedelia tore them in half. Instead of paring the vegetables, she paired them. To make a jelly roll, she pushed a jar of jelly across the floor.

Both the children and parents laughed throughout the performance.

At the end of character night, each child received a book.

Amelia Bedelia provides lessons in her stupidity, Samwell said.

"Kids learn from her mistakes," Samwell said. "It's great for words with more than one meaning."

Character night makes books more interesting, said parent Max Lederer.

"It creates an imagination and desire to interact with books," Lederer said. "It helps [kids] realize there are other kinds of entertainment besides Game Boy and movies. There are so many distractions, it's difficult to get them to participate in non-electronic activities."

Susan Thomas, who lives in the neighborhood, brought her daughter, Laura, 5, to character night because she may enter Bel Pre next year.

"It's great to have an opportunity to see how much the teachers reach out to the kids," Thomas said. "I like that they are using stories to get children to take about comparable experiences."

Laura's favorite character is Viola Swamp, who is the alter ego of Miss Nelson, a Dr. Jekyll-and-Mr. Hyde equivalent to teachers.

"She is so funny," Laura said. "I saw her picture in the story."

Second-grader Jennifer Kreisberg liked Amelia Bedelia best.

"She is funny and dumb,' Jennifer said.

All students at Bel Pre have a reading calendar where they fill out how many minutes they have read every day, said her mother Mary Beth Kreisberg.

"It's a great part of the reading program," Kreisberg said. "We both love to read."

Depth is added to the book with the teachers dressed as characters, said instructional assistant Tracy Keating.

"When they see the characters come to life, it gives the book another dimension," Keating said.