More than 1,000 children received books at a reading event in Hamilton on Saturday, one of several firsts recorded at the annual initiative.

The 25th edition of the Children’s Reading Festival at Victoria Park attracted more than 2,000 residents, organisers said.

This year, the festival, which was organised by the Bermuda Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc, included new elements to make it more inclusive, such as the use of sign language.

Denise Riviere, the co-chair of the festival, said the event had been a success and several new ideas developed during the programme that might be added to future festivals.

She said: “I think we have successfully achieved our three objectives and probably more than what we intended to do.”

These included a book review as well as a “complete experience” of synchronising the sound system at Victoria Park for people to be involved in the activities in real time.

She said: “Power Girl [Patrina O’Connor-Paynter] was our emcee. She was able to float around the park and brought an experience to children’s reading that we’ve never had before.”

Ms Riviere said one of the festival’s objectives was to provide children with experiences which help them to find joy in reading.

She explained: “We did that by having readers every 30 minutes and we are very careful how we pick our readers.

“We really just don’t want it to be where you’re reading a book but that you’re actually story telling, which is a big difference.

“And that you are bringing the children into the story and really helping them experience the story as opposed to just reading from a book.”

Ms Riviere said the readers, who included David Burt, the Premier, and Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, brought the stories to life while reading to children at the event.

This year the organisers expanded the event’s target audience to include children who may have unique learning styles or learning disabilities.

Ms Riviere said a sign language professional was on hand with the readers, a move which she noted benefited all the children.

She explained: “It was a lesson to the children who traditionally communicate because we explained what this person was there for and how this helps more children to understand reading.

“It was educational not only for the children that needed it but to make everyone understand the value of inclusion.”

Ms Riviere said the event’s second objective focused on expanding the activities to include others related to literacy.

She said: “We had many things in the park that had to do with literacy that were out of the box.

“For instance we did arts and craft because that is a part of the cognitive ability and so that is always a popular aspect of it.

“It is interesting to watch the children painting and then they sort of look back at what they are painting.

“I think the value of other ways to grow your literacy levels is what we succeeded at on Saturday.”

Maxine Herbert-Watson, another co-ordinator of the event, said a sensory station was a feature which “spiked” the imaginations of attendees.

She said it first came about in 2016 and was reintroduced at Saturday’s event.

She explained: “For our 25th, we looked at the past, present and also the future of activities and the sensory station was definitely a hit back in 2016.”

She said she reached out to a resident who created the station using four types of books, each of which had different activities for the children.

Ms Herbert-Watson said: “I think my favourite was one with the penguins. We got gravel from a fish tank to mimic water and ice to mimic the cold. We had miniature penguins in there and the children were just having a ball.”

She said the sensory station “heightened” the senses of the children and that the exercise targeted all age groups.

Ms Riviere highlighted the attendance of parents at the event, an outcome which she noted was related to the third objective of the festival.

She said: “Children do what they see so we always want to encourage parents to be role models.

“We provided tips to parents and the goal was really to inspire and encourage them to do the same to our young people as it relates to literacy.”

The event included a raffle in which children participated in events to win tickets.

Ms Riviere said: “It encouraged participation and we are encouraging parents to be involved to foster that connection.”

Among the plans for future editions of the event is the inclusion of yellow wristbands for students who may have learning disabilities.

Ms Riviere added: “That was our symbolism of the sunflower, which tied to the universal and national meaning of the sunflower as it relates to support needs.

“What that allowed us to do is make them VIPs.

“We tried to think of ways to accommodate inclusiveness of a wider target group.”

She thanked the festival’s partners, such as the Bermuda National Library, Target Learning, Heritage Scholarships, the City of Hamilton and Digicel for supporting the event.

She added: “The community truly came out and supported the event and we are very grateful to all who contributed.

“It was really nice to see how everyone contributed.

“It really brought to life that thinking that it takes a village to raise a child.”

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