Read Across Oklahoma is a special reading event directed at young children, and held each year to celebrate literacy and encourage reading.
This year’s Read Across Oklahoma theme, Get Carried Away Reading! was inspired by Hannah E. Harrison’s book, Bernice Gets Carried Away!. The story chronicles a day in the life of Bernice, a cat, who is upset after she has a series of negative experiences at a birthday party. When she learns her friends are having a day, worse than her own, she is inspired to brighten their day.
Our volunteers could have chosen to start the day with an attitude much like Bernice at the beginning of the book due to the dreary weather. Instead they took an approach much, like Bernice at the end of the story. They volunteered to make the day special for the zoo visitors in spite of the circumstances! They faced the chilly windy spring day with positive attitudes and made it their mission to bring joy to all those who came!
Children and parents celebrated the 12th annual Read Across Oklahoma event on April 3, at the Oklahoma City Zoo. Oklahoma Department of Libraries provided each child a free book to encourage family reading! Volunteers treated the children to fun activities including making banks and storytelling bracelets, receiving temporary tattoos, playing literacy games, reading books at story-time stations, dancing to children’s music performed by Sugar Free Allstars, and watching a very special reading of Bernice Gets Carried Away, by Oklahoma author and illustrator, Hannah E. Harrison!
Each year, the Read Across Oklahoma event celebrates reading and encourages family reading as a means to build early literacy skills. This event, sponsored by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, provides a wonderful opportunity for high school students to get involved as volunteers and mentors. This year, more than 85 students from Capitol Hill High School and Metro Technology Center assisted. This celebration would not have been possible without them and without our wonderful sponsors. A BIG thanks to our wonderful sponsors, the Krueger Foundation, Target, Tinker Federal Credit Union, Pizza Hut, OETA, Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden Aquarium, Metropolitan Library Systems, Oklahoma Literacy Coalition, and Oklahoma City Metro Coalition.
“Amy Stephen presented a very special tribute to Denise (DJ) Bowker for her 17 years of devotion, contribution, and “tenaciousness” to the Read Across Oklahoma event.”
Read Across Oklahoma is part of the statewide Ready to Learn initiative coordinated by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries in partnership with Oklahoma Educational Television Authority.