TUE 30 NOV 2004
All aboard for child literacy
By Tara KarrAssistant Arts & Culture Editor
Before Hollywood bought the rights to “The Polar Express,” it was a simple book about faith and Christmas spirit.
Moscow-area children will have a chance to live the story once again at a special reading of the book Saturday at BookPeople of Moscow. The reading will take place during a special pajama party.
Leeanne Hoffman will read “The Polar Express” duly dressed as the conductor in the story and an elf. There also will be a pajama contest, prizes, games, ornament decorating and refreshments. The festivities begin at 6 p.m. Admission is free, but parents of children who plan to attend are asked to R.S.V.P. at BookPeople.
The party is the grand finale of “The Polar Express Ride for Reading,” a literacy support project sponsored locally by BookPeople, University of Idaho English honor society Sigma Tau Delta and the UI Elementary Education Literacy Block.
Proceeds from fund raising conducted during the past few weeks will go to First Book, a national organization that provides books to children from low-income families.
Dona Black of BookPeople said the bookstore learned of the project through Book Sense, a company that provides bookstores with promotional supplies and information.
“Book Sense worked with First Book to suggest ‘Polar Express’ parties to all the independent book sellers as a promotion for both the new movie and First Book’s share of the profits for the film,” Black said.
Katie Hellmann, president of Sigma Tau Delta, said members were eager to get involved when BookPeople approached them about helping with the project.
“As English nerds, nothing is nearer and dearer to our hearts than literacy,” she said.
Members of Sigma Tau Delta spent the weeks before fall recess raising funds for First Book. According to the First Book Web site, “First Book supports the wonderful work of local heroes running already existing community programs, arms these programs with the critical resource of new books, and helps them to become full partners with the school systems and the children and families they serve.”
For every dollar raised by Sigma Tau Delta, First Book adds $11 toward purchasing books for Moscow-area children, Hellman said.
“This is the only literacy organization besides the Moscow Literary Council on the Palouse,” she said. “We are hoping to be very successful in getting books to kids in not only Moscow, but also Troy, Deary, the LC Valley and other surrounding towns.”
“The Polar Express Ride for Reading” is First Book’s first appearance in Moscow, so community members have yet to see its value, Black said.
“Moscow is a fairly well-equipped town, but they (Sigma Tau Delta and the Literacy Block) see the tremendous gift it could bring to areas with fewer resources,” she said.
Though no direct fund raising will be done at the party, donations to First Book are still being accepted at BookPeople and the UI Department of English office. People who donate will have their names written on special boxcars, which will be on display at BookPeople during the party.
Arts&Culture Editor: Jon Ross
UI Argonaut, 301 Student Union, Moscow, ID 83844
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