I am back and I am reading again!

At last, back in the reading chair at Mount Pleasant Branch and it was fun. But cold.

Sadly, I think the weather is affecting the reading. I only had 4 children today and others tell me attendance has been low generally. Here in Zimbabwe it is winter (this means sunny days and chilly evenings..so not so bad really..) and when you have no central heating and then long power cuts.....lets just say I have 'corned beef' legs from sitting too close to the fire.

Anyways, because the library is struggling with a poor collection and decrepit facilities, it has very few subscribers. And because the economy is not strong the subscriptions fees are very low. And then because income is really low bills need kept to a minimum so there is no heating, and worse when there is no electricity. It is a vicious circle but not hopeless as the daylight comes through the windows and we wear our jackets and sit closer together.

Never mind, it is all good and today 4 lovely children heard the story of A Chick Called Saturday, just for the fun of it (and because we had a couple of preschoolers). It is about a chick who discovers that he can do one thing very well. And then we did some reading to each other. The Runaway Tractor and The Hare and the Tortoise. Really important to get Grade 2 and 3 reading (that is  6/7/8 years old).

What made it really nice was that a Father came and dropped off his daughter and her sibling twins (otherwise it would have been just me and Thandekile from The Grange Christian School). He said,
           "My name is Edgar. My wife was here last week with our oldest, she is a member of the library. My wife was told there is story telling. So here we are."

I smiled. Sunday June the 17th is Fathers Day. A great opportunity for Dads to enjoy time with their children, tell stories and listen to tales that promote the importance and joy of active fatherhood, and parenting generally. Here is a link you might enjoy if you are or want to be that kinda father/brother/uncle.

http://storiesthatlift.com/index.php/read-childrens-stories/a-fishy-fathers-day.html