Mark Twain creeps onto reading list at LHK Read Aloud

FALLS VILLAGE — Rita Delgado, prior to reading “Out of the Woods”  by Rebecca Bond to students at Lee H. Kellogg School (LHK), first showed off her snow boots and striped socks, and then posed a riddle:

“What’s hot, and wonderful and dangerous?”

“Fire!” said the children.

“Right,” said Delgado, and launched into the story about a fire in the woods near a remote Canadian hotel.

Wednesday, Feb. 10, was Read Aloud day at LHK. Eight members of the community came to school on a snowy morning to read to students.

Bob Greene read “Frederick’s Journey” by Doreen Rappaport to a group of seventh-graders. The book is the story of Frederick Douglass, and Greene made some points of his own as he went along.

Of slavery, he said, “It’s pretty unpleasant stuff, but it’s important to know what happened.”

Ellery Sinclair was introduced by his grandson, Kneeland Munson.

“This is my grandfather, Ellery Sinclair,” said Kneeland.

“Also known as…,” said his grandfather, giving the prompt.

“Woods!” said Kneeland.

Sinclair settled into a chair and began. “Who was Samuel Langhorne Clemens?” he asked.

Somebody said, “Mark Twain.”

“Yep,” said Sinclair, and began reading “The Miner’s Cat” to the sixth grade.

Henry Todd was also in Twain mode, with a copy of “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” at the ready.

“Good morning,” he said to the eighth grade. “Are you ready for a story?

“You’re getting one whether you’re ready or not.”

Read Aloud day is sponsored by Northwest Connecticut’s Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation and the Alcoa Foundation in Winsted. They purchase the books and donate them to the school. At LHK, some of the readers chose to read books that were personally meaningful to them but were not on the list.

Not all schools in the region held their events on Feb. 9; some will hold their Read Aloud day in March.

The readers this year at LHK were Rachel Gall, “Good Night, Firefly,” by Gabriel Alborozo; Mary Palmer, “Slug Needs a Hug,” by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross; Pat Mechare, “Mother Bruce,” by Ryan T. Higgins; Zoe Fedorjaczenko, “A Dog Wearing Shoes,” by Sangmi Ko; Rita Delgado, “Out of the Woods,” by Rebecca Bond; Akke Jasmine, “Freedom’s School,” by Lesa Cline-Ransome; Woods Sinclair, “The Miner’s Cat,” by Mark Twain; Bob Greene, “Frederick’s Journey,” by Doreen Rappaport; and Henry Todd, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” by Mark Twain.       — Patrick L. Sullivan