In the sweetest story of the day, kids reading to shelter kittehs.

Children in grades 1-8 who are able to read at any level may come into the shelter to read to the cats in our adoption room. Similar programs at other shelters across the country have seen the benefits the program has to offer. The program will help children improve their reading skills while also helping the shelter animals. Cats find the rhythmic sound of a voice very comforting and soothing.

The Book Buddies Program was implemented by ARL Program Coordinator, Kristi Rodriguez. Her son, Sean, who’s a 10 year old 5th grader, served as an inspiration for the program. He struggled with reading at school and so she brought him in to read to the cats and he loved it so much, he asked to come back. She knew if her son liked reading to the cats, then other children would as well. The program officially began in August 2013 and since then Sean has shown remarkable improvement in his reading and now often reads to their dogs at home.

- See more at: https://www.berksarl.org/programs/book-buddies/#sthash.DvL3Bid8.wL65eZuT.dpuf