Toasty Tales celebrates fun of reading in Naperville

Gregory Middle School in Naperville recently hosted its first family reading night, drawing roughly 275 people for Toasty Tales, an evening of literacy-themed activities.

Library Media Center Director Esther Bevan invited all Gregory students and their families to the event as well as fifth-grade students who will attend the middle school next year. Participants could choose four activities from a list of nine that included things like playing charades, listening to a storyteller, guessing a book’s title based on a line from the story and making watercolor art inspired by the poetry of Robert Frost.

Students like Elizabeth Hung, 11, visited a station called “Barking Tales” run by the school’s foods teacher, in which they used their reading skills to follow a recipe and make peppermint puppy chow.

Others like Mike DalMoro, 13, browsed books on display from Anderson’s Bookshop and Naperville-based publisher Sourcebooks.

The Naperville, Fountaindale and Plainfield public libraries participated in the event as did Naperville businesses like Yogurt Beach and Miss Joan’s Cupcakes, which donated raffle prizes. The Indian Prairie Educational Foundation supported the evening by granting funds to pay the storyteller.

Bevan said she plans to make Toasty Tales an annual event. As the Common Core standards emphasize close reading for facts, she said it’s still important to read for enjoyment.

“Everything we do comes back in some way to reading,” Bevan said. “The variety of activities we had really showcased how important literacy is and that things that involve literacy are fun.”