Reading program begins with newborns

The story of ‘The Little Engine That Could’ may soon be told in Mi’kmaq, thanks to American country singer Dolly Parton.

A new pilot project launched in Nova Scotia on Tuesday aims to give children a head start in school. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library program, founded 12 years ago in Tennessee by Parton, is now being offered to First Nations communities in Nova Scotia.

The program jumpstarts pre-reading and language skills in young children by providing newborn babies with free age-appropriate books every month until they reach the age of five.

Local organizers working with Mi’kmaq Kina’matnewey will deliver the early literacy program through the Bear River First Nation Preschool.

These 60 free books will bring home an already familiar message to local children that reading is fun. For the past year, Rose Meuse has been bring books to life in a series of parent and tots workshops in Bear River.

While the stories are read aloud, the ideas are enhanced through real-life props that engage and stimulate children. The workshops also show parents fun ways to teach their children important skills. “One story we read was about a scared squirrel,” Meuse said. “So when he was afraid of falling out of the tree, we showed the children a safety helmet they could hold and wear. When squirrel was afraid of being hurt, we brought out a first aid kit.”

Using props to support the books also stimulates brain development in several ways, she said. These children now have an edge in school because they have already learned their numbers, shapes, and colours.

Kay Desborough, a provincial coordinator for early literacy programs, says Meuse’s workshops are a great example of what the Imagination Library hopes to support in the homes. “There’s been amazing success in Bear River,” she said. “The children have mastered the concepts of colours, shapes and sizes, these are the types of skills they need when they start school.”

Desborough added that in recent years, fewer parents take time to read to their children, and so many are already behind in pre-reading skills by the time they go to school.

She is working on several ways to bring the program into more homes. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library ensures that babies enrolled in the program will each receive a collection of books by the time they are five years old.

Each of the books has been carefully chosen to offer appropriate support at every stage of the child’s development, and includes classic tales such as ‘The Little Engine That Could’.

Desborough is also working with teams of elders in the Waycobah and Pictou Landing First Nations to enhance the existing program and provide each First Nation community with story sacks similar to the ones Meuse employs during her workshops.

They are developing unique resource packages that contain culturally relevant books and activities. “We’ll be sending a copy of Theresa Meuse’s story, ’The Sharing Circle’, she said. “The elders are also working on ways to help parents tell the stories in Mi’kmaq.”

Desborough said she hopes to eventually provide each community with a resource package that includes the complete set of the 60 Imagination Library books, and a number of games and activities that offer fun strategies for introducing books to children.

She admits that some of the stories in the library may be hard to adapt to First Nations culture, but just like ‘The Little Engine That Could’, where there is a will there is a way. “Mi’kmaq is a very old language, so there isn’t always a word,” she said, “but I’m sure they’ll find a way to tell the stories.”

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library program has been offered throughout Canada and the U.S. since 2006. This year over five million hardcover books will be delivered to over 470,000 children.