UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 17, Page 3
February 3, 1994
Story time; Book makes big impression on little readers

                   "What's the matter with Leo?"
                       asked Leo's father.

                   "Nothing," said Leo's mother.
                   "Leo is just a late bloomer."

     These quotes, from Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus helps tell the
story of little Leo the tiger cub who never did anything right until he
bloomed-all in his own good time.
     It's a heart-warming tale recently chosen by a group of University
students to present at the Storybook Festival, sponsored by Read-Aloud
Delaware.
     Held on Saturday, Jan. 22, the festival drew children of all ages to
Wesley College in Dover to marvel at "big books"-cardboard re-creations of
favorite children's tales produced by many organizations affiliated with
Read-Aloud Delaware.
     Those who decorated the books took things a step further by presenting
a skit, puppet show or some other type of performance based on the story.
     The University group was made up of members of the Delaware Teacher
Corps, a volunteer organization dedicated to getting education majors out
into local schools and the community to work on teacher-related service
projects. Past group projects have included tutoring at Newark High School
and volunteering at the Newark Day Nursery, Stanton Middle School, the
Latin American Community Center and other places.
     This spring, the corps, which is coordinated by Sylvia Brooks in the
Center for Intercultural Teacher Education in the College of Education,
said she hopes to have 25 members working on service projects in the
Colonial School District.
     The students chose their book for the January Read-Aloud event from
the University's UNICEF collection with the help of Beth Anderson, director
of the Education Resource Center in the Willard Hall Education Building,
where the collection is housed.
     "It's a really positive, uplifting children's story that is well
illustrated," Anderson said.
     "It's a colorful book with a good message about self-esteem,"
according to graduate student Renee Hayes, who helped coordinate the
project and read the story at the festival. "It doesn't have a lot of text
and it's really perfect for pre-schoolers. I can't imagine a better
choice."
     The book is part of the UNICEF collection because it is illustrated by
Jose Aruego and also is published in Spanish.
     The Storybook Festival celebrated Read Aloud Delaware's 10th
anniversary.
                                                  -Beth Thomas