Children's Summer Reading Program Ends on a High Note

Okay, so I am not quite sure if it was technically a high note (or a whole note, half-note, or quarter-note for that matter), but whatever notes Peter and Ellen Allard were playing at last Friday’s Summer Reading Concert, the duo had the children in the packed Whales French Room moving in their seats.

Kids like Devon Rossi-Benson were singing, dancing and following the directed finger plays.  Devon appeared to like, “Driving in my Car” best.  Some other children snuggled up on laps moving modestly when they thought no one was looking.

Last Friday’s celebration officially marked the end of another successful at the . Barbara Palley, the Children’s Librarian, spoke to the program’s success saying that more than 600 readers participated this year.

The was geared towards students through grade six. A grant from the Stoughton Cultural Council helped make this celebration concert possible.

Some of the participants were winners of raffle prizes, which were awarded last Friday. While many of the prizewinners were unable to attend the celebration, luckily, some of the winners were present to experience the first hand excitement of having their name called.

Some of the winners included, Devon Ross-Benson, who won a sun catcher set; Alexis Love, who won a Magic Kit; Bridgett Pearl, who won a book collection; and Benjamin Love, who won a set of three nonfiction books.

The adult raffles included some nifty items, and again, while many were not present to claim them, a few were, like Jacqui Harrison (teacher at the ) who won a gift certificate to and Carolyn Campbell who won a collection of Health and Fitness books.

Handling the raffle process was not an easy task and Palley had some talented helpers including Amari Harrison, who is entering 6th grade at the Christine Pernock who is entering her senior year at , and the dynamic duo of Sumedha and Archit Sahay, who will be attending the Foxboro Regional Charter School.

Archit read 115 books this summer.

“Everyone reads at their own pace and the point is to have fun with it,” Palley said. 

Anthony Gay, who will be entering Kindergarten in the fall, couldn’t pick just one favorite book that he read over the course of the summer.  He explained with a huge smile on his face, “I read a lot of dinosaur books!  I love dinosaurs, so my favorite is all those.” 

Another little girl, Maggie, and her mom, were at the show and attested to how much fun they had with the program.  “We would come twice a week and take out books each time!”  After some deliberation, Maggie, who too is entering Kindergarten in the fall, decided that she liked Amelia Bedilia the best.