Storytime with Rep. Himes

Serving ages six months through five years, Reach Out and Read provides a new age-appropriate book to children at five area clinics in Stamford and Greenwich during their well-child visits.

“That’s an average of ten visits during those years and if they have siblings, they’re building a nice little library,” Christine Garber, Connecticut Program Director of Reach Out and Read, told Patch. "We have used books on hand that a sibling can take home from a visit too so no one is left out."

On Friday morning, Congressman Jim Himes sat down with a circle of three to five-year-olds in the pediatrics waiting room at and gave them the choice of three books: “Book, Book, Book,” “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed,” and “How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Room.” The dinosaurs were an early favorite and one child immediately identified the dinosaur on the book as a triceratops.

“Is that a triceratops?” laughed Himes, of Cos Cob. “You learn something new every day!”

The children were transfixed as Himes read aloud from the picture book and engaged them with questions about how well they clean their own rooms and whether any of them have started learning to read.

“Do you all read books at home?” he asked them to flurry of responses.

For the second book choice, Himes put democracy into action in the story circle and asked the children to vote for the next book they would read. Every small hand in the room went up for both storybooks.

“Recount!” one adult interjected and Himes began “Five Little Monkeys.”

At the end of all three stories, Himes passed out copies of “Falling Leaves,” a book provided by Reach Out and Read for the children to take home.

Volunteers for Read Out and Read and their partner agency, Literary Volunteers Stamford Greenwich Inc., also read aloud to the children as they waited for the congressman to arrive. Lutitia Tibbetts is among the volunteers that dedicates her time to reading to young people around the city.

“At first the children can be hesitant, especially if its their first visit. I tell them my name and ask theirs, I tell them that I like to read and ask if they do too,” Tibbetts said. “Then I open to the first page and we have an adventure.”

Reach Out and Read serves 47,000 children in Connecticut and provides 60,000 books each year. In addition to providing books to the child, Reach Out and Read also ensures that doctors and nurses are educating parents about the importance of making time to read to their child.

“Just the bonding is so important, having that quality time,” Garber said. “Reading aloud is the most important thing parents can do to raise a strong reader. Books have richer language than they get from watching television or even from normal conversations in the home. You’re preparing them to read.”