Book Fairies Take Flight During Annual Read Early, Read Aloud Month

At more than 20 library, preschool and community events, including some organized by First 5 LA grantees and a couple holiday parades in Best Start communities, the colorful fairies told children 5 and younger how reading gives them wings to go anywhere or be anyone they want to be - like a lion, a snake or a princess. The children always responded to the fairies with lots of "oohs" and "aahs."

At each event, the kids were read to by First 5 LA staff or others, including NBC 4 reporter Stephanie Elam. She brought her 1-year-old daughter, Simone, and shared some of their favorite books, including On the Night You Were Born, at a reading Dec. 5 at the Alma Reeves Woods-Watts Branch Library.

"As a kid, my favorite thing to do was read," Elam told the Monday Morning Report. "I could go to so many magical places in my mind. Because of reading, I decided to do what I do for a living. I love words and I love the power in words."

Elam said she and her husband read to Simone every night as part of their bath and bedtime routine, and she loves to see how excited her daughter is to pick books. Elam said it's an important part of her day.

She read to about 50 children from community, including students from the nearby Kedren Watts I Head Start Program. The children then colored their own fairy wings. Like at every Read Early, Read Aloud event, each child took home his or her own book.

Janet Matthews, a teacher-in-training from Southwest Community College, said reading is so important because it opens up their imaginations. Noting how quiet and still the preschoolers were during the reading, Matthews added: "The kids love it."

A few weeks earlier, a book fairy landed at the Heavenly Vision Learning Center in South Los Angeles, sparking a heated debate between two 5-year-old girls over whether she was a fairy or a princess. After hearing The Very Hungry Caterpillar read aloud, each of the nearly 50 students received a bilingual copy of the Eric Carle classic.

And at the Long Beach Family Literacy program, students and parents spent a week preparing for the book fairy's visit. They studied live caterpillars and made "welcome" banners painted with a very hungry caterpillar and a beautiful butterfly.

The Read Early, Read Aloud fun also continued online, with the month-long "My Favorite Book" contest on Ready. Set. Grow! and Twitter. A grand prize winner will be picked today at random for the 50-book home library. More than 120 people shared stories about early reading and favorite childhood books. The responses were varied, but stand-out favorites were books by authors Carle and Dr. Seuss, as well as the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series. (To see highlights from the entries, visit the Ready. Set. Grow! blog here.)

Be sure to check out photos from the events in our Ready. Set. Grow! Facebook album by clicking here ... and while you're there, be sure to "like" the page!

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