What's New
Click here to read our October 2024 newsletter, and learn about all of the ways we are celebrating our 15th anniversary year! Click here to subscribe to make sure our quarterly newsletter easily reaches your inbox! You can unsubscribe at any time.
You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay in the loop on all the latest CKR news.
Click here to read our April 2024 Newsletter! We share program highlights, upcoming events where you can find the County Kids Read team, and more. Click here to subscribe to make sure our quarterly newsletter easily reaches your inbox! You can unsubscribe at any time.
You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay in the loop on all the latest CKR news.
Happy readers at PEC Family Day held at the Wellington and District Community Centre, where the CKR team gave out 125 books!
County Kids Read consistently aims to create welcoming, accessible opportunities to reveal the power of "𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅'𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅". The generous support of our community partners and local friends is vital to helping young people discover the magic that stories and books can unleash.
This year, the “March Break Chill Fest” at The Royal Hotel in Picton provided County Kids Read with a cozy story-time setting in "The Parlour". This special event brought families together to simply enjoy the warmth of a caring community.
Together with The Department of Illumination, County Kids Read thanks all of the enthusiastic families who brought wonderful energy to this gathering; thanks also to those who contributed donations to our organizations.
And a huge “Thank you” to The Royal Hotel! The Royal graciously opened its doors and shared its beautiful spaces with us on this day. We look forward to planning other opportunities for local families to receive “The Royal” treatment!
An interaction with a story book that looks like this…
… quickly becomes an interaction with a story book that looks like this!!
There is nothing quite like story time by the fireside to spread warm fuzzies around a room!
“A book in every child’s hand”
WINTERFEST - London Avenue Park, Prince Edward Heights
Saturday February 17th 12-3 pm (rain date)
This beautiful sunny day was filled with joy, laughter, fun, food, and books!
Many thanks to The Baxter Arts Centre and The Department of Illumination, and their partners Prince Edward Learning Centre and Greater Than County Youth Collective for organizing this fabulous community event.
THE COUNTY FAMILY DAY - Wellington & District Community Centre
Monday February 19th 9 am - 3 pm
Local families were invited to enjoy a fun-filled day of FREE activities, complete with hot soup and chili! County Kids Read was excited to partner with the Wellington Rotary Club, handing out free books for children to take home and make their own.
County Kids Read is very grateful to have been selected as one of the fortunate recipients of a 2023 Huff Family Fund grant.
The increase in the number of children presenting with mental health issues, particularly anxiety, is on the rise. Our project, “Building Mental Health Literacy” aims to support children by providing valuable resources to help alleviate mental health challenges and boost well-being.
Many thanks to Lanny and Catharine Huff and The County Foundation for their ongoing, generous support.
Local supporters of County Kids Read recently took a fresh new approach to generating donations to the CKR mission.
When Tonja Buder and Mark Pavlidis hosted a holiday gathering with family and friends, guests brought special “gifts” - books to donate to County Kids Read!
And this year, Sheryl Herle hosted a seasonal “cocktails and cookies” event at PEYC where donations were collected for County Kids Read.
County Kids Read extends many thanks to the generous donors who attended these events.
Following Lindsey Carmicheal’s presentation of her book, “Polar WildLife at the Ends of the Earth” in November, County Kids Read hosted several exciting visits from local authors in December, too!
Caitlin Evans read to students at Sophiasburgh Public School from her new book, “Where Do Stories Come From?”
Lynne Grist shared her novel, entitled “Treasure At Sandbanks: The Key to Time” with the Grade ⅘ class when they visited the CKR Book Room.
Dominic Leslie read his book “Shirley Nix: The Snow Fairy” to the JK/SK class from PECI.
On November 14th, COUNTY KIDS READ was pleased to introduce author Lindsey Carmichael to Prince Edward Collegiate Institute's Grade Four Panthers.
Lindsey Carmicheal has a PhD in wildlife genetics and worked as a forensic scientist before becoming an author; she brings 20 years of experience teaching both science and writing to her work as a writer.
Lindsey’s most recent book, “Polar : Wildlife at the Ends of the Earth”, is a “stunning exploration of the animals that have adapted to survive - and thrive - in Earth’s harsh polar regions”. This lucky group of PECI students learned about the amazing arctic adaptations that allow animals to live in bitterly cold, freeze-dried wildernesses where the wind can blow harder than a hurricane.
Lindsey specializes in making all aspects of science engaging, relevant, and fun. Curious children and families are invited to learn more by heading to Lindsey’s website, www.lecarmichael.ca.
Finally, the leaves started to turn and it was time to invite our eager young friends to select their first books for the new school year.
From mid-October to early November, excited PECI students enjoyed exploring the shelves of the County Kids Book Room and taking home their just-right new books.
And, thanks to our keen outreach teams, Athol-South Marysburgh and Sophiasburgh students also had the opportunity to find their next new favourite titles when County Kids Read came to visit.
Along with distributing books to these schools, County Kids Read continues to supply several community partners with books on a regular basis. Currently, we are taking steps to expand our reach with bi-monthly book distribution at the PEC Fresh Good Food Market (both in Picton, and at the County Food Hub in Sophiasburgh), and by participating in local community events like the “Fall Family Open House” at Prince Edward Fitness and Aquatic Centre.
The County Foundation delivered grants to several community service organizations through the Government of Canada’s Community Services Recovery Fund. The grant has allowed County Kids Read to hire a short term records manager who will access, recommend and implement a records/data management program designed to suit the needs of CKR.
Thank you, also, to our generous local service clubs - The Kiwanis Club Picton, Royal Canadian Legion Branch #78, and The Rotary Club of Wellington - for their donations and continued support of CKR.
