For some kids, learning to read can feel like a chore. For parents, it’s hard to tear them away from screens.
Viviana is 8 years old, and she’s at the library reading a book featuring two characters, a pig named Piggie and Gerald the elephant.
Viviana has an attentive audience, patiently sat listening, not judging or correcting her, with a wet nose and a shaggy coat! Her audience is a Bernedoodle dog called Yogi Bear, and she is one of a dozen or so therapy dogs who come to the library once a week to listen to kids read.
"This is our program called Dog Days. Animals are a great way to create interest, promote interest in reading and literacy in young kids that might not have a natural inclination," explained Kiva Runnels, Outreach and Programming Coordinator for the Thousand Oaks Library.
"I've had comments from so many parents saying that their child was a reluctant reader, they wouldn't read, nothing could get them to read, and then they started coming to Dog Days, and their reading improved, and they were much more willing to open a book.
"Our mission is to (provide) free access to as many public resources as possible here at the library, and Dog Days is kind of an extension of that," said Runnels.
Roya Parsa’s children, 7-year-old Kayden and 5-year-old Kiana, cozied up with Annie Oakey, a Golden Retriever. Kiana had her head resting on the dog's back.
"They're very calm and quiet, and they're just very cooperative and patient," Parsa said of the dogs.
"I think it gets them [her kids] to come to the library. We make it part of our routine during the week. Being in the library, exposed to books and different programs, I think is great. They love dogs, and I think it's exciting to do an activity with a dog..."
"She's the best dog ever," Kiana enthuses
Annie Oakley’s owner, Mindy Levine, said Annie Oakley has a great temperament to work as a Therapy Dog for Love on a Leash, and she's listened to hundreds of kids read to her.
"The dogs are not judgmental, and the children can read with the comfort that they're not being criticized for their reading. Whether they read or they tell the stories in the pictures, which is beginning reading, it's a safe place to be," said Levine.
"The dogs just give them love, and they read at whatever level they're reading at. And some children read extremely well. They just read for pleasure, and that's good too. You know, it's not always because a teacher needs you to read this for whatever reason or an assessment. This is just fun," she said.
The final word on whether the dogs make a good audience, of course, goes to Viviana.
"Yes! She doesn't annoy or talk."
The Dog Days reading program runs at 3.30 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Thousand Oaks Library.
