This fall, more than 550,000 kids took home free copies of Mr. Zinger’s Hat, a Canadian children’s book by award-winning author Carey Fagan and award-winning illustrator Dušan Petričič.
This story follows a little boy named Leo as he embarks on an exciting chase to retrieve a hat blown away by the wind. During this, he meets Mr. Zinger, the owner of the hat. Mr. Zinger suspects that a story is trying to escape from his hat, so he and Leo spin a tale that changes both of their lives forever.
Kids received Mr. Zinger’s Hat as part of the annual TD Grade One Book Giveaway, a national program that encourages children’s literacy by getting books into the hands of children across Canada. The program, now in its 16th year, has donated more than eight million books to date.
With the giveaway in full swing, here are a few simple ideas for nurturing your child’s love for reading:
- Make reading a family activity. Try reading aloud together or sharing what you love about the book you’re reading.
- Have your kids set a goal for how many books they want to read. Make it visual by writing it down in a place the whole family can see. Celebrate as your kids get closer to the goal!
- Read to your kids or have your kids read to you in a silly voice or create different voices for all the characters in a book.
- Encourage your kids to dress up as their favourite character and act out a scene from a book.
- Don’t want a book to end? Get your kids to tap into their inner author by writing an extra chapter.
- Make a scrapbook. In it, your kid can list each book they are assigned to read and put a star beside the titles they have finished. Each star earns a small reward, such as a bookmark. He/she can also jot down their comments and criticisms, or illustrate passages they loved — their imagination’s the limit!
Both the author and illustrator of Mr. Zinger’s Hat are on a cross-country tour with live book readings in grade one classes and local libraries. For a full schedule of the public readings and to find one in your community, please visit tdreads.com.
