Susan Dierker author of the Knuckles series reads to Kauai Keiki
On February 28th, 2014 also known as Read Across Kauai Day, members of the Kauai Children’s Authors Guild will hit the road to promote the importance of literacy by reading to hundreds of children across the Garden Island. The guild members spent months raising funds for the event and scheduling book readings at various schools across the Garden Island. With the help of the following sponsors, guild members will be able to distribute over 400 books to children across Kauai. Thanks goes out to: Plantation Gardens Restaurant, the North Shore Lions Club, the East Kauai Lions Club, Coldwell Banker Makai Properties, J. Lohr Winery, Gerald Nakashima, the KART Foundation, Terry and Helene Kamen, Janice Bond, Mokihana Pest Control and many other individual donors who made this event possible.
The event was modeled after the national event, Read Across America Day, but Kauai is such a special place that guild members designed Read Across Kauai Day to be a little more personal, a little more “Kauai Style”. The event provided an opportunity for children to interact with local authors and establish a personal connection with the books being read to them. The authors were also be able to share their experiences about writing and publishing books in order to inspire children to become writers if that is their dream. The authors reinforced the importance of reading by encouraging creativity through writing and artistic expression.
One of the most important components of the project was the distribution of an information sheet that was sent home to parents about the importance of reading aloud to their children. Since Read Across Kauai Day is devoted to literacy, guild members wanted to make sure that this significant information was disseminated to the children’s parents. Why? Because statistics show that nearly 40% of children struggle with learning how to read and reading aloud is one of the most important things parents can do to prepare their children for long-term learning success.
Authors who participated in this event include: Susan Dierker, author of Knuckles the Hound of Hanalei who read to more than 200 students at Hanalei, Kilauea, and Kanuikapono Elementary Schools, Monika Mira, author of Who Lives in the Sea? Ocean Animals of Hawaii who read at Kalaheo Elementary School and Haloalaunuiakea Early Learning Center, Mark Jeffers, author of Eye of the Lion, the Story of my First Hurricane who read at Kahili Adventist School, Mark Huff, author of The Sheltering Place who will be reading at St. Catherine’s School, Carol Peacock author of Benny the Beetle who read at Island School, and Wendy Lewis author of Sabrina, the Girl with a Hole in her Heart, who read at Koloa School.
