FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Thanks to your help, students at Weatherbee Elementary School in Fort Pierce are taking home free books from their Scholastic Book Fair this week.
The WPTV and Scripps Howard Fund's "If You Give a Child a Book" campaign raised more than $11,000 dollars to help students build their home libraries.
The Scholastic Book Fair is always an exciting time for students. Some of the most popular titles this year are the Baby-Sitters Club series, as well as Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
But it's extra special when students know they can take books home for free.
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Students at Weatherbee Elementary School on Monday sifted through stacks of books to pick out their top three reads.
For the second year, WPTV and the Scripps Howard Fund sponsored the school's Scholastic Book Fair through the "If You Give A Child A Book" campaign.
Adding to their collections from last year, returning students are now up to six free books of their own.
"When they heard the book fair was coming, they are showing me their books from last year. So it's something they really cherish," principal Angela Patton said.
Patton said that while they focus on literacy and reading skills inside the classrooms, reinforcing it at home is critical, and not all families are able to do that on their own.
"That's a big problem. Sometimes, they don't have the reading materials at home. So this donation is really helping out for them to have books to read. And it's really that ownership that means even more," Patton said. "It's not just a library book. They get to keep it."
The kids' excitement was contagious as they explored a new world of imagination from cover to cover.
"Our job here is to teach kids to read. But we also want to instill that love of reading. And this really helps to make it happen," Patton said.
A love for reading with every turn of the page.
To donate to the "If You Give a Child a Book" campaign, click here.
