In Which I Finally Attend a Bookish Event

My county's library system is participating in 'Once Upon a Reader' this month and the book they choose was 'Moo!' by David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka. 

I dragged  invited my husband along with Baby Girl and I to the kick off event one chilly morning. Lucky we got there early, because it was packed. As in, I think they were turning some families away. 

Both the author and the illustrator, David and Mike, were there to read the book and do different activities. My 2 1/2 year old daughter was definitely in the lower age range for the group, but she still enjoyed the reading, the puppet show and the crazy dance time.

The last portion of the event was great interaction time with David and Mike. With the help of the kids, David came up with a new short story about the cow and Mike would add illustrations to a picture. At the end of the exercise they told each child that they could now call themselves 'authors' and 'illustrators'. Adorable and empowering! 

'Moo!' has adorable illustrations that are simple and uncluttered. The idea of a book using only one word seemed sketchy to me. The reasoning was to help prove to kids that they can read books on their own. The story is cute and written to cause a giggle or two. Re-readability is pretty low for an adult, but a child ages 4-6 might get a good kick out of reading the 'moo' in different ways.

Overall, a great event for the library. I'm not sure if they have done anything similiar in the past, but they should consider doing it again next year. For my family, the enjoyment level will only go up as Baby Girl grows up. Throughout the month of April, each library in the county system is holding different events and activities related to the book. So fun when the libraries coordinate like this.

Make sure to check out the Once Upon a Reader website--it is bursting with 'Moo!' extras and fantastic information about the program, libraries, and early learning.

A study of  3- to 5-year-olds who had been read to at least three times per week found the children:

• Two times more likely to recognize all letters.

• Two times more likely to have word-sight recognition.

• Two times more likely to understand words in context.

-According to United for Libraries.