Reading is fundamental

Published 1:09 am Friday, April 11, 2003

By By BEN RAYMOND LODE / Niles Daily Star
NILES --This spring's Reading is Fundamental day at Northside Child Development Center Wednesday, saw the "Silly Sisters" from the Niles District Library return to the stage.
In addition to the performance from the sisters, Thursday was book distribution day, and the young students could choose from 380 different children's books on display.
The Reading is Fundamental program, founded in 1966, develops and delivers children's and family literacy programs that help prepare young children for reading and motivate school-age children to read regularly.
By the end of 2000, RIF had placed more than 200 million books in the hands, homes and hearts of America's children through their distribution program.
According to Edith Ervin, deputy director of Head Start and Family Services, the "Silly Sisters" read two books Wednesday and taught the children two songs, one of which was interactive.
And the children enjoyed the performance.
The first book read was "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What did you Hear?" and the second one "I Am Going To Take A Walk."
The songs sung were "Isn't It Great To Be Silly?" and "How Do You Do and Shake hands," according to Ervin.
While taking the opportunity to return to stage in front of a small audience, the "Silly Sisters" also talked about the library and some of the special things children can do there.
On Thursday, the kids lined up in front of the book display tables before carefully choosing the books they wanted to take home this time.
At the end of the day, there weren't too many books left.