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SYCAMORE, Ill. (AP) — Gladus Hillier has never read a book, but week after week she helps Sycamore children learn to read on their own.
That's because Gladus and her sisters, Edyth and Shurlee, are 120- to-150-pound black New Foundland dogs with a skill that keeps kids coming back to the Sycamore Public Library. The library's program, Books and Barks, met Jan. 6 and allowed children 10 minutes to read their book of choice to a trained therapy dog.
The first week of January's guests were present courtesy the dogs' owners, Mike and Linette Hillier.
"It's fun for them," Sycamore Public Library Youth Services Assistant Emily Delegato said. "It makes reading fun. It's not just reading to themselves or reading to their parent, which they're used to doing every night. It's seeing a different dog every week."
Laura Thornberg has noticed a change in her 7-year-old daughter Carly's reading since bringing her to Books and Barks, where she curled up with the massive, black dogs and read them a story from the "Little Critters" series.
"Her reading has evolved so much just getting to do this each week," Laura Thornberg said.
Each of the dogs used in the program are Canine Good Citizen trained through the American Kennel Club, Delegato said. Unlike a family pet, animals with "good citizen" training have been coached to respond well to strangers and maintain a calm demeanor.
But that hasn't stopped 10-year-old Tyler Neppl from trying to read to his own animals, his mother Heather Neppl said.
"I feel like for him, it's more about being able to read without judgment. The dogs are a bonus that he gets to hang out with them and pet them a little bit," Heather Neppl said. "We do have a dog at home and now he's starting to try to read to the dog at home, but he's not as calm as these dogs."
William Akst, 9, read with confidence as he recited a chapter from "Unleashed," a fictitious story about a retired attack dog and his friends, which William chose specifically for Wednesday's gathering.
"I started a different book in the series at school, but I thought it would be appropriate because the main character is a dog, and I like these books so much. It's kind of hard not to read two books in the same series at the same time," he said.
Although William, already an avid reader, doesn't need help improving his reading skills, the library's program has managed to bring his two favorite things together: books and animals.
"Reading has brought me to one of my favorite animals - the cheetah. I'll go into the animal section back there and spend a long time trying to pick every cheetah book I can find," he said. "Sometimes I check out more books than I can read because I love reading so much."
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Source: The (DeKalb) Daily Chronicle, http://bit.ly/1Rcghya
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Information from: The Daily Chronicle, http://www.daily-chronicle.com
This is an AP-Illinois Exchange story offered by The (DeKalb) Daily Chronicle.
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