Editor's note: For an album of images from read aloud sessions, click here.  

Children’s Book Week, held in the first week of May, was established to reinforce a joy of reading in children. Now in its 98th year, this annual celebration encourages children and families from all 50 states to attend read alound events at libraries, bookstores and education settings.

This year, the University of Delaware’s Delaware Institute for Excellence in Early Childhood (DIEEC) coordinated a statewide effort to provide reader volunteers at 40 early childcare centers in nearly 130 classrooms.

“A child's first five years are critical to their development and set the trajectory for life,” said Martha Buell, professor in UD’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) and director of DIEEC. “Children who are read to by caring adults who ask questions and share conversation about books will have heard 30 million more words by the age of 3 than children who have not had these opportunities. They are more likely to develop a love of books and master school readiness in both reading and writing.”

While most states host events for school-age children, DIEEC strove to foster academic success by providing an engaging storytime to our youngest population — infants, toddlers and preschoolers —through its Delaware Stars program.

Volunteer reading activities included:

• Delaware Secretary of Education Susan Bunting, EdD ’96, joined staff from the Office of Early Learning to read at Drop-A-Tot Preschool in Dover;

• David Teague, professor in UD’s Associate in Arts Program and children’s book author, read his book The Red Hat to children at Seeds of Jesus Daycare in Wilmington;

• Jungle John visited UD’s Early Learning Center to present a dinosaur puppet show accompanied by a book reading; and

• UD students read books they created sharing scientific findings about lionfish research at UD’s Morris Library.

“I really enjoyed visiting the program to read to the children,” said Delaware Stars reader Chris Joe. “The children were enthusiastic to hear the book, and the staff made me feel very welcomed. This event was a great way to bring about the why we do what we do.”

DIEEC provided books in English and Spanish, featuring a variety of races and ethnicities. After reading the stories aloud, the volunteers presented the book to the classroom.

“Each classroom and family childcare program received a copy of the book as a thank you for participating,” said Laura Cutler, doctoral student in HDFS and program coordinator for Delaware Stars. “We hope that our efforts this year continue to bring attention to the importance of reading in early childhood.”

About the organizations

Delaware Stars for Early Success is a program funded and administered by Delaware Department of Education, managed by the University of Delaware’s Delaware Institute for Excellence in Early Childhood (DIEEC) in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. The goal of Delaware Stars is to invest in participating programs to increase access to high quality care for all of Delaware’s children, especially those from low-income families.

Children’s Book Week is a cornerstone program of Every Child a Reader, a 501(c)(3) literacy charity dedicated to inspiring a lifelong love of reading in children and teens across America.