Arianna Straw had a little trouble fitting the stethoscope in her ears but she had no trouble finding her grandmother’s heart.’

“I hear it! I hear it!” she said with a broad smile. “I hear my grandmother’s heart. It goes boop, boop, boop.”

Arianna was among the children who participated in the third annual Reach Out and Read event at Charles Henderson Child Health Center (CHCHC) Wednesday morning.

Each child who participated received a goody bag that included a book titled, “Nicky Goes to the Doctor,” a working stethoscope, Band-Aids, gloves and snack treats

Rosemary Hanson, event coordinator, said the purposes of Reach Out and Read are to alleviate some of the concerns children have about those scheduled checkups, to strengthen relationships with Pike County’s trusted health care provider and, of course, to encourage children to read.”

Reach Out and Read began at 9 a.m. and concluded at 11 a.m. and all children were invited.

“We had children throughout the morning and they enjoyed the stories read by Teresa Colvin, children’s librarian at Troy Public Library,” Hanson said. “She read to the children from Richard Scarry’s ‘Nicky Goes to the Doctor’ and several other health related books.”

Hanson said the American Academy of Pediatric recently released a policy statement promoting early literacy. According to the AAP, early literacy, beginning with an infant’s very first days, is an essential component of primary care visits and validates the work of Reach Out and Read to partner with doctors to promote early literacy.

“This is the first time the AAP has adopted an official policy on the issue,” Hanson said. “This gives doctors and parents the tools and books they need to promote reading out loud to children every day, starting in infancy.”

Colvin said children who are read to at an early age are more likely to be better readers and to enjoy reading throughout their lives.

“The importance of reading cannot be stressed enough,” she said. “Reading does open doors to the world and brings you a lifetime of pleasure.”

Hanson said the children had fun playing all the games but especially enjoyed hopscotch, which involves hopping or jumping through a course of numbered spaces of rectangles outlined on the ground.

“We outlined the course on the carpet with tape and someone was hopping all the time,” she said. “The children have had so much fun that I think will leave the course down so they can continue to enjoy it on visits to CHCHC.”

Hanson said Reach Out and Read was a great success and hopes are that the book the children took home, “Nicky Goes to the Doctor,” will be encouragement for parents and children to read together and to visit their physicians for scheduled well-child office visits.