Alta Summer Reading Focuses on Fiction, Facts and Fun in 'Food Fandango'

Jackson, WY - This June, children can whet their appetites on tasty morsels of words offered up in the Alta Branch Library Summer Reading Program, "Food Fandango: Food Facts, Fiction and Fun."

The free program, for readers ages 5 to 12, will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon, throughout the month of June. Sign up is required and begins Thursday, May 24, while summer reading sessions begin on Tuesday, June 5. To register, stop by the Alta Branch Library or call 307-353-2505.

Food Fandango explores food through books, songs and poems. During the program, kids will sample and talk about all kinds of food, share food facts and explore topics such as world hunger. Reading hours will be tracked by adding food toppings to a giant bulletin board pizza.

Featured selections on this summer's reading menu include Food Field Trips. Kids will devour European folktales while decorating gingerbread people at an Austrian Bakery; sup on soup while reading "Stone Soup"; and learn about pasta through the story "Strega Nona," followed by a visit to an Italian restaurant. Visits to other local eateries are also planned.

When it comes time to sing the praises of food, local songwriter Michael Hurwitz will guide young readers in writing and performing songs about yucky food, after they read about and sample culinary delights such as oysters, fish eggs and Limburger cheese.

"When I described the menu, Hurwitz' s response to the project was enthusiastic as he noted how easily foods like slugs and bugs rhymed," said Gretchen Notzold, Alta Branch Library Manager.

While honing their reading skills, kids will also have a unique opportunity to pledge their summer reading hours towards the purchase of reading materials for the local Head Start Program. Head Start is a federal program which encourages literacy for low-income preschool children.

"Summer reading always offers an intrinsic reward in the reading itself, but this opportunity to help out other readers really sweetens the pie," Notzold said. Kids will be encouraged to find a local sponsor to pledge money to Head Start based upon how many reading hours the child completes, Notzold said.

Early sign-up is encouraged, as summer reading fills up quickly. Call Alta Branch Library at 307-353-2505 or stop by the library, located in the Alta Elementary School at 15 Alta School Rd., Alta, Wyo. The program is free and open to the public and sponsored by Teton County Library Foundation.

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