Kapai books well received
The youngsters at Wesley Kindergarten had a special gift to take home last week.
Central Leader editor Melanie Louden visited the Mt Roskill kindy to play a game of pass-the-parcel with the excited and curious children.
They eagerly peeled off layers of newspaper to finally reveal a payload of Kaipai and the Mountain Legend books by Uncle Anzac – one for each child.
The children were among thousands of kids at lowdecile kindergartens across the country who received a book of their own through the Fairfax First Books scheme this term.
More than 100,000 youngsters have received a book since the scheme was started by Fairfax Media in 2006.
Books are handed out each term.
‘‘It was so much fun to see the enthusiasm and excitement on the faces of the children when they saw the books we were giving out,’’ Mrs Louden says.
‘‘They are clearly a group of kindy kids who enjoy reading and I’m so glad we get to be a part of fostering their early literacy skills and love of books.’’
Head teacher Jenny Perry says the scheme augments the centre’s focus on reading.
‘‘We have a strong literary focus here, we work hard to encourage books, so the free books are a great way to support that,’’ she says.
Kapai and the Mountain Legend tells the story of an adventurous kiwi and his friend who sneak away from camp to see Mt Ruapehu erupt.
Four-year-old Asomua Tanuvasa was clearly enthralled with the tale.
‘‘This is a funny story, it’s a funny book,’’ he exclaimed.