Read and Walk Your Way through Winter

Recent chilly mornings indicate that winter is just around the corner, which means it’s time for a new reading experience at the Library’s StoryWalk in Sunset Park.  While walking along the half-mile, paved, accessible path, you’ll enjoy a story that’s spread across 18 panels.
 
A different children’s picture book goes up each season and the title that will delight young and old alike for the next couple of months is “Bear Can’t Sleep,” by Karma Wilson.
 
Start your walk at the Sunset Drive entrance to the park, just down the stairs that take you from the parking lot into the park.  You’ll end up at the Shelby Drive entrance.
 
Accompanying the pages of the book are tips and “try it” suggestions in both English and Spanish.  What a fun way StoryWalk is to develop reading skills and enjoy the outdoors!  (StoryWalk is trademarked by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont and developed with the support of Kellogg-Hubbard Library. )
 
Bear, the cuddly, lovable main character of the Bear books, is most well known for being a good and faithful friend. His favorite foods are berries, fish, and popcorn. His friends say he is an excellent storyteller.  When he isn’t sleeping, Bear enjoys playing with his woodland pals. He is also an excellent swimmer, and loves taking a dip on a hot, summer day. Bear lives in the deep, dark woods and he makes his home in a cozy lair. 
 
The Bear books collection includes ten other titles that are perfect read-alouds for beginning readers.  What a great gift one of them (or all of them!) would make for a preschooler. Topics of other titles include counting, colors, and loose teeth, and there’s even a holiday book—Bear Stays Up for Christmas.
 
You can also give the gift that keeps on giving—a Sedona Public Library card!  And of course the best gift you can give to children is to read to them. 
 
For a real treat, visit the webpage of the Bear books' author, Karma Wilson. She shares her story and more.  She grew up an only child of a single mother in the wilds of North Idaho. Way back then (just past the Stone Age, she says, and somewhat before the era of computers) there was no cable TV, and if there would have been, Karma could not have gotten it. TV reception was limited to three channels, of which one came in with some clarity. Karma did the only sensible thing a lonely little girl could do: she read or played outdoors.
 
Playing outdoors was fun, but reading was Karma’s “first love,” and, by the age of 11, she was devouring about a novel a day. She was even known to try to read while riding her bike down dirt roads, which she does not recommend, as it is hazardous to the general well-being of the bike, the rider, and, more importantly, the book. Her reading preference was fantasy (C.S. Lewis, Terry Brooks, etc…) and historical fiction (L.M. Montgomery, Laura Ingalls Wilder, etc…). Those preferences have not changed much.
 
This season give yourself a gift.  Take the opportunity to get out and enjoy the great outdoors and also read some books—but probably not while you’re riding your bike!
 
Best wishes from all of us at Sedona Public Library for a wonderful holiday season.  Please remember the Library and all of its free programs, services, and resources when you consider your year-end giving.  We’ve made it easy at sedonalibrary.org/donate.

​Sedona Public Library
Column for December 20, 2019
Written by: Virginia Volkman, Director