The Montelores Early Childhood Council will organize a Storybook Walk at the Cortez Public Library this Friday to promote children’s literature and celebrate nature.
Starting at 10 a.m., families who participate will go on a self-guided walk from the library to Centennial Park, with plaques featuring pages of the picture book “Our Big Home” by Linda Glaser and Elisa Kleven placed at intervals along the route. The event, which also includes activities and crafts for kids, will take the place of Montelores’ usual monthly family night. Sahara Thurston and Cassy Gnas, the council leaders in charge of the walk, said they hope it will be the first step toward building a permanent storybook path near the library.
Gnas and Thurston chose the book, which is an illustrated poem about the planet Earth, as a way to tie into an outdoors theme, since Earth Day is coming up on April 22. Each stop along the walk will include an activity for kids that ties into the poem, like a challenge to “move like a fish” to the next page after they read the one about water.
Depending on families’ reaction to this event, Gnas and Thurston hope to eventually offer a permanent storybook walk near the library, which would showcase a different book every month.
“We really want to see if this is something people would be interested in,” Gnas said.
Fliers for the walk, which the council has advertised in local schools and libraries, describe it as a way for parents to “foster (their) child’s connection with nature as well as their literacy skills.”
The council also plans to use the walk to promote their Children’s Festival on April 29, which will have a literary theme as well.
The Montelores Early Childhood Council is a group of educators and child care providers in Montezuma County who seek to support families with young children through events like their free monthly Family Nights.
