The children enjoyed listening to a few poems and a reading of the book “Daniel Finds a Poem.”  The lovely child’s book was written and illustrated by Micha Archer and introduces children to the idea that poetry is all around us in the world and that every person may see poetry differently.

Librarian Janine Strohm opened the program by reading several short children’s poems.  The children seemed fascinated by the verses, and they all took part in a short discussion of each little poem.  Amanda Adams with Jefferson-Clarion Early Head Start, read “Daniel Finds a Poem.”  The children listened with almost rapt attention as Ms. Adams read.  She would read a page and then engage the children in a discussion.  The children all participated, and all seemed interested in connecting their own life experiences with the elements of the story.

The Library and Early Head Start staffs also had several areas for the children to participate in “hands-on” activities related to the “Daniel Finds a Poem” story.  The children were especially fascinated with the puzzle table and the build a town puzzle.  They also seemed to enjoy the crafts table where they were able to color characters from the story and make their own popsicle stick puppets of the story’s characters.  The program encourages and helps children to correlate reading to other areas of creativity and imagination.

One Book, Every Young Child is a program that attempts to foster early literacy development in preschoolers and to encourage parents to read early and often to children.  The program also encourages engaging children in conversation and other activities around books.  Now in its 12th year, the program has been successful partly because of the partnership of collaborating agencies that all support early childhood literacy efforts. These agencies have worked together to develop this multifaceted program which is accessible to all areas and populations of the state.

One Book, Every Young Child is supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, The Carnegie Science Center, Pennsylvania Library Association, Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children, The Pennsylvania Child Care Association, and others. This project is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries.