Celebrating Word Read Aloud Day: Lauren O'Connor-May reads to St Mary's Primary School pupils

St Mary's Primary School pupils enjoyed a story time with Strandfontein author Lauren O'Connor-May in honour of Word Read Aloud Day.

The pupils enjoyed looking at the pages of Ms Connor-May's new children's book, Dream House Adventures, on a screen, and her reading to them from a book on Thursday, February 5.

In December, the public benefit organisation, Otto Foundation, converted Cape Town's schools' creative arts room into a library. 

The foundation creates and manages libraries and reading programmes at a cluster of schools in District Six. 

They invited Ms O'Connor to engage with the pupils first at the Liyabona Library at Holy Cross RC Primary School, in District Six, and then at the Happy Library at St Mary's Primary School.

These experiences followed on from the International Literacy Day, the day before, to encourage children to read and adults to read to them. 

This year's theme was "Celebrate Learning," recognising the power of the read-aloud as a vehicle for knowledge. 

Foundation project manager Rithia Abrahams said they invited Ms O'Connor.

"Today, she engaged with our kids. They enjoyed her story. They loved the storytelling and the places they noticed, from Table Mountain to the Aquarium, which made them feel at home," she said. 

Grade 2 pupils told the CapeTowner that the book was about a family and a little girl telling a "magical house" to wake up.

Find CapeTowner on TikTok and Instagram @ccmonlineza.