Library hosts The Day of the Children

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Library hosts The Day of the Children to promote literacy

By DAN MORRIS

ROUND LAKE – More than 30 families gathered at the Round Lake Area Public Library on April 27 to participate in El Día de los Niños (also referred to as Día), which means The Day of the Children, a national celebration to promote literacy.

Toddlers to 10-year-olds gathered to hear Kay Elmsley Weeden tell stories, and they also sang songs in Spanish and English. The crowd listened to tales of Ferdinando, the bull who preferred sniffing flowers to bullfighting, and sang about elephants balancing on spider webs.

As the children sang and listened, Weeden invited them to become bulls and elephants, stamping the ground and swaying on gossamer. Thirty pendulous pachyderms perched precipitously in the spider’s web, then became a herd of Ferdinandos sniffing forget-me-nots.

Weeden, a professional storyteller for more than 20 years, began her involvement with Día six years ago. Her specialty is presenting bilingual programs in Spanish and English to promote learning multiple languages and foster respect for diversity.

“Día focuses on promoting the culture and heritage of a family,” Weeden said. “Whether Spanish speaking or English speaking, it’s about bringing families together around books.”

The event began with a traditional song called “Un Elefante se Balanceaba” (“A Balancing Elephant”) followed by a classic children’s story, “El Cuento de Ferdinando” (“The Story of Ferdinand”) by Munro Leaf. Weeden then led the children in the song “Flaquita Mosquita” (“Skinny Fly”) and handed out drums, maracas, castanets and tambourines until the room seemed to be full of rather large and loud mosquitoes.

The first Día event took place April 30, 1997. Children’s author Pat Mora learned of the Mexican tradition of celebrating April 30 as The Day of the Children during a radio interview at the University of Arizona in Tucson in March 1996 and wanted to celebrate the event.

According to Mora’s Web site, www.patmora.com/dia/dia_history.htm, the Mexican tradition grew out of the 1925 World Conference for the Wellbeing of Children, which took place in Switzerland.

Mora, along with some faculty members of the University of Arizona and other organizations planned an event to celebrate Día throughout 1996. The inaugural Día took place in Santa Fe, N.M. Events also took place in Arizona and Texas.

Día sprouted from Mora’s passion for literature and writing, as well as her desire to spread “bookjoy” to kids and families throughout the country and across cultural lines.

Since then, Día has expanded across the United States, reaching more communities each year.

“It has grown by leaps and bounds throughout the country,” Weeden said.

Elena Lara and Maggie Rodriguez of the Round Lake Area Public Library organized the local event, which is sanctioned by the American Library Association. The Library hosts several child and family oriented programs, including Día.

“It's about the kids,” Lara said. “[And it's about] getting the parents involved and to read to their children. This is one of the biggest events that promotes that.”