Listen:
On the first pages of A Splendid Friend, Indeed a goose waddles down the back of a fuzzy bear and asks, “What are you doing? Are you reading?”
Those are questions the Pima County Library hopes children will answer with "yes," during Love of Reading week, which will begin Monday.
The book is also one of several the Pima County Library will hand out free to kids in local Head Start programs as part of the literary celebration. Head Start is a federally funded preschool education program for children from low-income families.
Other activities include story times and opportunities for kids to practice their reading skills with a dog at their local library.
"An important predictor of school success and high school graduation is grade-level reading by the end of third grade,” said Melinda Cervantes, library director, in a press release. “Love of Reading Week adds a spoonful of fun!”