A giant mouse appeared in a local café Tuesday (Jan. 25), much to the delight of children and their families.
The rodent, named Johnny Longtail, arrived in the company of local children's author Peter Leggett, who read from his book of the same name at a Literacy Café as part of local celebrations for National Family Literacy Day.
"I'm happy with the response we got," said Jane Balance, the implementation manager of the Putting Children First Initiative. She organized the café, which was at Chef Big D's. "It's something I'd like to see happen a few times a year."
Melanie Lever read some poems to the children at the event.
"I've grown up with writing and literary events," said Lever, who is involved with a writers' group and whose mother is also an author.
"It's the basis for communication really," Lever said. "With literacy comes vocabulary. If children as they're growing up can express themselves, there's less stress on the person."
Brent Williston brought his two children to participate in the café "just to get them exposed to language and communication with other people.
"It's just a good positive environment."
Other activities for family literacy included a Tea for Literacy at the Squamish Public Library Thursday (Jan. 27) with information about the Every Child Read program and community literacy in Mount Currie, including a Knowledge Network documentary about some of the literacy work in Mount Currie.
This Saturday (Jan. 29) the Squamish Public Library is hosting a Scrabble literacy tournament starting at 9:30 a.m.
"It's a really fun event," Maureen Painter, the library director said. It's also the main funding raising activity for literacy programs at the library and Capilano College.
Individuals can sign up for $20 or teams of four and under for $30. Pledges are also collected. The fee includes a guaranteed three rounds of Scrabble, a light lunch and refreshments.
