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SHICKSHINNY — The overhead lighting was subdued in the school library, where strings of white lights suggested fire flies and make-believe campfires glowed orange near six domed tents.
Plush owls, fishing poles and wooded ducks added to the atmosphere, and a pine fragrance wafted from a scent warmer.
Welcome to Northwest Area Primary School, where 340 children in pre-kindergarten through third grade took turns this week spending time at Camp Read-A-Lot.
Before they entered the tents for a cozy reading experience on Tuesday morning, two dozen first graders sat on the floor in front of reading specialist Ember Hasay.
“It’s a beautiful day. We’re not scared,” they said, repeating each line of an exciting story she read aloud about going on a bear hunt, complete with hand motions.
The story took them into “a swirling, whirling snowstorm,” “a dark, gloomy cave” and other obstacles, and the children chanted a repetitious strategy: “Can’t go over it. Can’t go under it. Can’t go around it. Have to go through it.”
After a song, another story and a discussion of how tricycles compare to bicycles, unicycles and quads, the children separated into six tents where they found books in such categories as animals, silly stories, scary and outdoor stories and spent the next 15 minutes reading.
“I want to be an astronaut,” said Connor Irwin, 7, who chose a book about that topic in the science tent.
“I don’t want to be an astronaut,” said Jacob Griego, 7., who was reading a book about a rocket going to the moon. “I don’t want to go up in space for a long time.”
Meanwhile, in the scary stories tent, Allena Groff and Ava Ruckle, both 7, and Harmony Shoemaker, 6, were reading books about a bat called Stella Luna and a monster called Frankenstein.
“This is scary. See how it pops up,” Ryleigh Madl, 7, said laughing and not really appearing to be frightened as she opened a book called “I’m Going to Eat You.” The book had pop-up illustrations that showed a creature with very big teeth.
“That’s my favorite part,” she said.
Reading in a tent is more fun than reading at a desk or in a chair, 7-year-old George Perkins said. “It’s pretty cool.”
Camp Read-A-Lot involved weeks of preparation, reading specialist Diana Antolik said. While teachers pitched the tents and arranged a mock waterfall and a place for Kermit the Frog to sit, children took part in anticipation-building projects.
“The second graders read poems about camping to the first graders, and the third grade put on a camp play for the second graders.”
“Learning to read is hard work,” Antolik said, and the fun of the Camp Read-A-Lot experience “shows them what the hard work is for.”
“We just want them to have the ability to enjoy books,” she said. “To hold them and enjoy them. It’s a beautiful thing.”
The experience really captured the children’s imagination, Antolik said, pointing to a toy skunk that had inspired the children to be quiet. “They would tiptoe into the library because they didn’t want to scare the skunk,” she said, adding one day a boy came over to her, holding his nose. “I think we scared the skunk,” he said.
At another point, the children commented they could smell marshmallows roasting.
In both instances, the teacher said, there was no odor. Just some active imaginations.
