By Marissa GOULD
Once Upon A Time, the country’s oldest children bookstore, has unveiled some new programs for the summer. Storytime is a program created by storeowner Maureen Palacios to engage children in reading at a young age. Storytimes are held in the store on Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m. Pajama Storytime is on Fridays at 7 p.m.
Two special programs are Nature Storytime on Wednesday, June 19 and July 10 at 10:30 a.m. and Starry Night Storytime on Wednesday, Aug. 7 at 8:30 p.m. Nature Storytime and Starry Night Storytime take place at upper Montrose Park. Children ages 2 and up are welcome to sit down and enjoy a good book.
Nature Storytime is held before the heat of the day. After the story, kids
are treated to a nature walk and some arts and crafts.
Starry Night Storytime requires a flashlight (to keep the monsters away) and includes a “listening walk.” The listening walk takes the children around the park to listen quietly to the sounds of nature around them.
These two Storytimes allow children to get out and explore the world with words because, according to Palacios, “Reading is everywhere.”
Pajama Storytime is held at the store and involves singing and dancing to various books. Recent Crescenta Valley High School graduate Maya Alvarez is the reader for this event. She leads the kids during the songs and dances, employing puppets and various voices throughout her performance.
Charlotte Still attended a recent Storytime event at the store. Her parents Jennifer and Cobb said that Charlotte loves when they read to her at night, so they decided that Storytime would be fun for her. Charlotte loved the stories and Alvarez’s comical chicken dance.
The Storytime programs are about getting children excited about reading. Palacios’s goal is for kids to read new books and to revisit old ones while making books exciting and fun for young children.
Storytimes are free to attend.
Once Upon A Time is located at 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose. For more information, call (818) 248-9668.
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