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Celebrate reading, it's Literacy Week

It creates a bond between parents and children

Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Hay River (Sep 29/03) - Everyone has their own reasons to read. It could be for education, for work, for enlightenment, or simply for pleasure.

NNSL Photo

Dalaila Thomson enjoys reading to her three-year-old daughter Alexa Dawn. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo


And this week NWT Literacy Week celebrates reading and promotes the need to support literacy throughout society.

Dalaila Thomson reads to her three-year-old child Alexa Dawn.

"I like to read to my daughter," Thomson says. "She really likes books. She's a book addict."

Thomson says she often reads the same books to her daughter, and the youngster has even memorized parts of books. "If I stop, she continues with the next word."

Thomson says reading to children is a good way to introduce them to reading and improve their language and vocabulary skills. "They can learn and they will understand you."

There is no right age to begin reading books, she adds, noting that even very young children can learn stories and rhymes. Reading also creates a bond between parents and children, Thomson says. "It's the best way for them to be close to you."

Eric Rose says he reads just about anything, especially science fiction and car magazines.

"It expands my knowledge of things," says the 29-year-old. "It gives me something to do when I don't have anything else to do. Sometimes it's a lot better than watching TV these days."

Interestingly, Rose says he reads more now than he did when he was a teenager. He recalls he was about 20 when he began to develop an interest in reading.

Kandice Thomas, 18, likes to read novels, especially Stephen King thrillers like The Storm of the Century and It.

"He describes his characters and the action really well," she says. "Just like you're there."

Thomas, an Aurora College student, says it is important to read to learn things. "To expand your mind."

This week - Sept. 29 to Oct. 4 - is NWT Literacy Week.

"It's an important time to promote literacy," says Christine Gyapay, the head librarian at the NWT Centennial Library in Hay River. "It's a good way to show people literacy does matter."

Literacy Week is also a great way to have fun, she says, noting the Hay River library has events planned such as Scrabble Night.

Gyapay says this is a time to celebrate reading and a time to increase awareness and support for literacy.