Rotary Club of Providence to donate national award-winning books

The Rotary Club of Providence will donate nearly 300 books by Rhode Island based, national award-winning authors and illustrators for use by students at the city’s Harry Kizirian Elementary School on Friday, April 25. The books will be available to all students in the school’s 19 Kindergarten through fifth grade classroom libraries.

Books will be presented and local author/illustrator team Hayley and John Rocco will read from their books in two assemblies beginning at  9:30 am, Friday, April 25 at the Harry Kizirian Elementary School (Narducci Learning Center), 110 Paul St., Providence

Books will be presented and local author/illustrator team Hayley and John Rocco will read from their books in two assemblies beginning at  9:30 am, Friday, April 25, at the Harry Kizirian Elementary School, (Narducci Learning Center), at 110 Paul St., Providence.

“Classroom libraries are crucial in literacy education as they provide easy access to books, promote reading for pleasure, and support the development of literacy skills,” said Jane Berkowitz, a member of the club’s literacy committee and former consultant to the California State Department of Education in establishing classroom libraries. “They foster a love of reading, increase student engagement, and ultimately lead to improved reading achievement.”

The locally based authors and illustrators include:

·         Author Hayley Rocco and her husband, New York Times bestselling illustrator and Caldecott Honor winner John Rocco

·         Author Anika Denise and her husband, illustrator and Caldecott Honor winner Christopher Denise (both Denises and Roccos live in Barrington)

·         Robert Alley, also of Barrington, illustrator of the venerable Paddington series for the past 25 years.

·         Oge Mora of Providence, author and illustrator of Thank You, Omu, winner of a Caldecott Honor and New York Times Notable Book Award

·         Mark Binder, author, storyteller and Providence resident

The books will be presented in two assemblies at Kizirian Elementary School, 110 Paul St., Providence, beginning at 9:30 am. Author Hayley Rocco and illustrator John Rocco will read to the students from their books.

The classroom library books for Kizirian, and an even larger batch by the same authors and illustrators to be delivered in May to students at George J. West Elementary School, are part of the Providence Rotary Club’s Jane Babcock Childhood Literacy Initiative. Begun seven years ago, the initiative has donated over $300,000 for books and innovative literacy teaching materials for Providence public school students.