First Book of St. Louis

Kids get free books at after-school program

Nine-year-old Kristopher Wallace got his first free books at Halloween at his after-school program at Dignity House in the City of St. Louis. He gets a chance to choose free books about once a month.

Appropriate for the Halloween season, the subjects of Kristopher's first books were scary. One gave tips on being a spy and the other was about kids catching a burglar.

Kristopher Wallace

Kristopher is a 4th grader at Mitchell Elementary School. He said, "I like scary books and comedy books."

He goes to Dignity House for its after-school activities. Dignity House is one of three after-school centers run by Neighborhood Houses. The other centers are Caroline Mission at 2828 Caroline St. and St. James Center at 1455 E. College Ave.

Neighborhood Houses received a grant from First Book of St. Louis that allows it to give free books to the kids. The idea is to help kids build a home library with books they like.

Cerrita Cunningham

Eleven-year-old Cerrita Cunningham is another of the kids at Dignity House who has gotten free books. She said, "When I was in 3rd grade I was reading 7th grade books."

Cerrita now is a 5th grader at Clark Elementary School, which is located just north of Dignity House. She doesn't have far to go to get to her after-school program.

Nine-year-old Dontre Sutherland got his first free book at Dignity House this fall. He said the book was about the life of Rosa Parks. She's the black woman who became a focal point of the civil rights movement when she refused to move to the back of her bus.

Dontre Sutherland

Dontre said he's got "8 or 9 books in my library that I have in my bedroom."

The home libraries of Kristopher and Cerrita are much bigger.

Cerrita said her home library is located in the living room. "It contains 60 or 70 books. About 40 of them are mine and the others belong to my cousin," she said.

Kristopher's library is even bigger. "I've got 104 books at home," he said.

He said some of the books came from a friend of his mother. "When the friend's son got older, he outgrew some of his books. They gave them to me," he said.

The three kids said they also check out books regularly at both their schools and at branches of the St. Louis City Library.

Dignity House

Ms. Rhonda Ford is the director of Dignity House. She said she allows the kids to pick their First Book selections about once a month. "I put the books on tables and the kids can pick two they like," she said.

Ms. Ford said the kids get to pick from about 60 different titles each month.

(If your school or organization would like to know more about the First Book of St. Louis program, contact Ms. Heather Winsby, the chairman of the St. Louis chapter of First Book. Her number is (314) 567-0057.)

Dontre Sutherland said he does most of his reading at home. "I like to read alone. I have a yellow chair in my bedroom that I use to read," he said.

Because he likes to read long chapter books, sometimes he needs help with big words and involved plots. He usually asks his older brother, Deonte, a 7th grader.

Dontre said the biggest book he's read so far was titled "I Was a Sixth Grade Alien." He said it was 126 pages long and took him about a week to finish it.

He said he usually checks out about one book a week from his school's library.

Cerrita Cunningham said she checks out books at both her school library and the city library pretty much every week.

Asked what she likes best about reading, Cerrita said, "I learn new things every day."

Kristopher Wallace said he checks out two to three books a week from the city library.

Although he likes scary books, he also likes comedy books and "ones that have a happy ending."

He said some of the comedy books have illustrations. He said he's drawing a comic strip himself. He said, "It's about a boy and his family who are having a happy time at New Year's."

Kristopher said he'd like to be a pro basketball player when he grows up. But, it that doesn't work, "I'd like to write kids books."

(For additional information about Neighborhood Houses' programs, you can contact the main office at 5611 Delmar Blvd., Suite 104, St. Louis, Mo. 63103. Or call (314) 383-1733. Ms. Sandy Montgomery is the development director.)