Bringing Families And Books Together At Oswegatchie

How do you get a boy who could care less about the biology of a squid or a whale to read about the biology of a squid and a whale?

Have them fight, of course.

Wednesday night at ’s family reading night, children’s author Jerry Pallotta discussed his series of “versus” books to dozens of children and their families, where two animals fight. While the idea seems like fantasy, it is actually a non-fiction book disguised as a fiction book, he said.

Nearly all of a book is facts about the two animals. They do fight at the end, but that is really just to draw the reader in, he said.

“I wanted to make a book for boys who don’t like to read,” Pallotta said.

The Big Picture

Family reading night, which was started this year by Basic Skills Coordinator Janice Aalberg, is part of an on literacy to obtain information and perform a task. So when an author can take a non-fiction book and make it fun for kids, it helps, Aalberg said.

“We want to get kids with a book in their hand that they want to read,” she said.

The event began with Pallotta giving a one-hour humorous slideshow about his books and his life. Then the children and their families broke apart into small groups where they learned reading exercises, and then at the end everybody came together for pizza. Each child left with a free book.

“It is a great community-building event,” Principal Nancy Macione said.

High Praise For Aalberg, Teachers

This was the first year of family reading night after Aalberg, who is just in her second year, brought the program to Waterford. All the teachers volunteered their time as well, Macione said.

“We have an outstanding (basic skills coordinator),” Macione said. “And our teachers don’t have to be here, but they volunteered. We have a great staff here at Oswegatchie.

The event was funded by money raised from the Waterford Education Foundation and the Oswegatchie PTO.

Pallotta

Pallotta meanwhile used to work at an insurance company, and began writing children’s books at night. He got into the business because his wife “made him” read to his four children.

“I always tell everybody, read to your children and magical things will happen,” he said.