Animals feature in summer reading fun

Children who join the club will get to take part in one of two games, depending on their age, and also experience a number of special events planned over the summer. Any member of the Westmount Library up to age 12 can join the Summer Reading Club. “We have a lot of planned activities,” said Children’s Librarian Wendy Wayling. “If it’s nice, we’ll hold them in the garden. We’ve done events out there, and it’s nice. But it all depends on weather.”

On June 20, the library will be visited by Fine Line Serpents. “It’s a local company, and they do events in parks and for schools,” said Wayling. “They bring snakes and reptiles, and I think they’re bringing their giant turtle, which is exciting.”

On July 2, the Montreal police will visit the library: “One of their specialists is going to bring their canine patrol in to meet the children,” said Wayling. On Thursday, July 9, the library will host a film showing, and on Aug. 6 will present a craft activity in which children will make their own animal mask. Finally, on Aug. 20, there will be another craft activity, featuring ‘recycled dinosaurs;’ children will make dinosaurs out of discarded household items. “It’s really cool,” said Wayling. “It’s using old CDs, it’s using old computer keyboards.”

Other regular events in the library will also feature an animal-based theme. “All of our storytimes should be based on animals, all throughout the summer,” said Wayling.

Children can sign up for the Club at the Children’s Department of the library starting on May 30. Said Wayling, “They get a folder with a log book, the poster for the Summer Reading Club, the game, and a list of books about animals. But they’re welcome to read whatever they like, in English or French.”

Club members will also take part in a special game. The game for younger children, aged 3 to 6, is called 'Animals Around the World'. “The more they read, the more animals they get, and they have to place them on a map,” said Wayling.

The game for 7 to 12 year-olds, called 'Mission: Animal Rescue', has a more elaborate storyline. “The story is that there’s a man named Mr. Poach, who’s been capturing endangered animals,” explained Wayling. Readers get clues to his location the more they read — for every three hours they read, they get a trivia question based on facts about endangered animal species. When they answer the question, they get a card featuring the animal, with a letter on the back. “Once they get all ten letters, they’ll unscramble the letters to find the country where Mr. Poach is hiding,” said Wayling. “We wanted to put an environmental spin on it,” Wayling said of the Summer Reading Club. “It’s not just ‘animals are cute,’ but learning about the plight of animals in our country and across the world.”

The closing party for the Summer Reading Club will take place on Sept. 12, at Victoria Hall.