‘Book monsters’ to help spread joy of reading
Boxes made by St-Lazare art students will allow kids to borrow, share stories
Three friendly new book monsters will soon be appearing in St-Lazare parks, each guarding a trove of free stories for children to read.
The book boxes are part of the Croque-livres program, a Quebec program inspired by the North American Take a Book/Leave a Book movement that offers children free access to shared books.
The mini-libraries, creatively painted by local children under the direction of artist Marie-Eve Longtin, will be installed in three of the town’s busiest parks later this month, at Westwood Park (2876 Chemin St-Louis), Bédard Park (1591 Bédard Ave.) and Saddlebrook Park (2448 Woodbine St.).
The “monsters” invite children up to 12 years of age to take a book or leave one to share. A half-moonshaped window offers a peek at the treasures inside, and it was that shape that inspired the friendly monster theme.
“The window looks like a mouth,” Longtin explained. “Giving the boxes a personality, with eyes and a mouth, helps to draw people in.”
Longtin’s young art students designed and painted the hungry book monsters.
The children, aged 8 to 12, had all been students of hers at L’atelier d’Art Visuel le Ciboulot for several years, were excited to participate in a project that the community would see.
“It made them really proud to create something that everyone could see and admire,” Longtin said.
The idea for the book boxes began with St-Lazare’s head librarian Michel Piché, who had seen similar boxes in another city.
He liked that the library installations made it easy to reach children on the playground, encouraging reading alongside the other activities they enjoy.
“It’s a nice exchange to take a book and give a book,” Piché explained.
With financial support from the city, Piché arranged the purchase of three book box kits through the Lucie et André Chagnon Foundation, an organization supporting various child literacy projects.
The library has hosted several art exhibitions by Longtin’s students, so it seemed natural to invite her class to participate in decorating the boxes.
“We thought it would be a nice idea to personalize the box with paintings by children from StLazare,” Piché said.
Piché said if the first three boxes prove popular, St-Lazare will consider expanding the program to its other parks.
“I hope it will inspire other cities, too,” he said.
More information about the Croque-Livres book box program, including a searchable map, is available online at croquelivres.ca.
We thought it would be a nice idea to personalize the box with paintings by children from St-Lazare. Michel Piché, chief librarian in St-Lazare