She reads Dr. Seuss and other imaginative, fantastical, amusing stories. At the end of each storytime, Kelly passes out bookmobile stickers to teachers who will give them to the children. The administrators at Macon Program for Progress, where the New Horizons Center is located, rave about Kelly s storytelling and the Reading Rover s dual role as entertaining and educational. Rather than lose time in transporting children back and forth to the library, it s much more convenient for the Reading Rover to come to the New Horizons Center, Pickens said, and the teachers pick up ideas about how to use books and share stories. We re delighted to have this program come, said Teresa Mallonee, executive director for Macon Program for Progress.
Kids love it.
Back on board the Reading Rover van, teachers come and go, bringing armfuls of books to return and collecting others to check out. As some oooh and aaah in their search for new books, you get the feeling this Reading Rover is as much a novelty for teachers as it is for children. The Rover s walls are lined with wooden book shelves and cabinets that carry everything from puppets to pamphlets, books on tape to videos, reference materials on parenting to cook books. There are puzzles, games, board books, oversized books, foreign language books, brochures even a Xerox machine for teachers. We re giving them so many more resources than they had before, Kelly said.