POWASSAN – After a great public response last summer, repeated over Christmas, the Powassan and District Union Library is back with another Story Walk Project.

The Story Walk is an American-based program that promotes reading and some physical activity.

It involves separating and placing the pages of children’s picture books along a trail or street where parents walk with their children and either read each page panel to them or have the child read them.

The pages are normally laminated to ensure longevity and placed on stakes if the Story Walk involves children and parents walking along a trail.

Powassan library CEO Marie Rosset says the pages are placed in the storefront windows of businesses along Main Street in the downtown.

Rosset says Main Street was picked to display the pages as another means to get residents into the downtown.

The book the library has picked for this summer’s Story Walk is Rooster Wore Skinny Jeans by Jessie Miller and illustrated by Barbara Bakos.

“This story is about accepting someone who is different,” Rosset said.

“In the story, Rooster got a pair of skinny jeans and he thinks he looks great in them. But when he walks out to show his skinny jeans to all the other farm animals, they all laugh at him because it looks stupid.”

Rosset says Rooster feels crushed by the reaction from fellow farm animals. But he doesn’t let their behaviour defeat him.

“Rooster says he’s going to love his skinny jeans and crows on top of the barn,” Rosset said.

“And after a while the other farm animals come around and accept Rooster as he is.”

The pages to Rooster Wore Skinny Jeans are expected to go up along Main Street just before the end of June and will stay up through July and August.

Rosset says the pages are being put on coroplast, a corrugated lightweight plastic that lasts a long time.

Rosset says it costs about $25 a page to produce the Story Walk.

Including the cover, there are 17 pages.

The story begins at the free mini library box on Main Street then continues on in the storefront windows.

The Friends of the Library are paying for the Story Walk.

This information is displayed in a pamphlet that also states this summer’s Story Walk is in memory of Gloria Brown, one of the founding members of the Friends of the Library 20 years ago. Brown passed away earlier this year at the age of 79.

Rosset says Brown was not only a friend of the library where she served as treasurer, but she also sat on the library board from 2015 until she passed away.

“Gloria made things like aprons, socks and dish cloths that we sold and was one of the fundraising activities that the Friends of the Library used,” Rosset said.

Additionally, Brown was twice the recipient of the library’s Volunteer Appreciation Award, in 2015 and 2019.

Brown was an employee of Royal Lepage for 29 years and worked at the realty company until her passing.

Not only was Brown one of the founding members of the Friends of the Library, Rosset notes Brown was always out promoting and supporting the library however she could to help it achieve its goals.

In addition to the pamphlet dedicating this year’s Story Walk to Brown, there is also a page reserved for local merchants who may want to place their business logo on the page for $40.

The promotion is a means to help the Friends of the Library offset the cost to produce this summer’s project and informs the public that the merchants helped subsidize the present Story Walk.

The pamphlet also has six questions for children to answer as they read the pages of Rooster Wore Skinny Jeans.

“So we’re trying to engage them in an activity as they go along and read the pages,” Rosset said.

“Maybe parents and children can read the questions beforehand so they know what to look for.”

The pamphlet also asks parents three short questions that rate the current project, like what they thought of the story and was it easy to follow.

After the summer the Story Walk pages will go to the local elementary school and be put outside so teachers can take the students from one panel to the next and read to them.

Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the North Bay Nugget. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

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