Photo by LORETTA JACKSON Hannah LaClaire, a guest reader and staff writer at The Telegraph, recites to students at the Mt. Pleasant Elementary School’s celebration of World Read Aloud Day a story from an award-winning children’s book, “Last Stop on Market Street.” It was one of a trio of books shared throughout the day by volunteer readers including Dotty Odin, president of the Nashua Board of Education, and volunteer Peter Hoose, a strong proponent of strengthening literacy skills among youth and adults.

A yearning for learning at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School in Nashua was evident when youngsters there recently gathered to hear a trio of volunteers read books to them during World Read Aloud Day, an international event of 10 years’ tenure.

The World Read Aloud Day, celebrated on Feb. 1, was sponsored by LitWorld, a nonprofit of international scope that offers literacy enrichment programs in 27 countries. The organization, based in New York, was founded by Pam Allyn, a literacy expert, author and motivational speaker who in 2007 visited a desperately poor region of Kenya. She discovered there a multitude of children with a passion to learn reading and share their stories despite severe social and economic barriers.

Locally, dozens of the students at Mt. Pleasant were shown into the library that day and greeted by Nicole Belanger, library media specialist, who conducted the reading sessions intermittently throughout the day. She introduced each session’s reader. The vocalists included Dotty Odin, president of the Nashua School Board, Peter Hoose, a volunteer, and Hannah LaClaire, a guest reader who is a staff writer for The Telegraph.

Among the books read that day were “Flight School” by Lita Judge and “The Book of Mistakes” by Corinna Luyken. LaClaire read “The Last Stop on Market Street” by Matt de la Pena. It won the prestigious Newbery Medal for the best children’s book of 2015.

Photo by LORETTA JACKSON Hannah LaClaire, a guest reader and staffer at The Telegraph, turns the pages as she reads “Last Stop on Market Street” to third-grade students at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School during the school’s participation in World Read Aloud Day, an enterprise sponsored by LitWorld, a nonprofit based in New York that in 10 years has brought literacy programs to children and adults in 27 countries.

All three tales illustrated through the use of vivid imagery and powerful phrasing some of the strengths that LitWorld strives to develop on World Read Aloud Day, and throughout the year. Among the skills so needful of nurturing in children, avows LitWorld, is self-expression, confidence and understanding, along with self-empowerment and joy in reading, writing and storytelling.

LaClaire, a graduate of The University of Maine, who has written extensively about innovations in education, said the occasion presented a nice opportunity to give back to students, a population she writes about with some frequency. Plus, she said, she had never read “Last Stop on Market Street” before, and she enjoyed the book’s message.

“I think it’s so important to foster a love of reading in children,” LaClaire said. “The more they read, the more their imaginations will expand and doors will open for them.”

Meanwhile, Belanger noted that she emphasizes reading at every opportunity among the school’s students. The Mt. Pleasant Elementary School is daytime host to 388 boys and girls of many ethnicities in classes ranging from Pre-K to fifth grade. The youngest of the listeners that day were the 3-year olds. Those at the upper echelons of ages 10-11 sat in rapt attention.

“The most important thing is to encourage literacy for children,” Belanger said. “Find awesome things for them to read and you will see them become lifelong learners and lovers of reading.”

Courtesy photo Peter Hoose, a volunteer reader at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School’s celebration of World Read Aloud Day, attracts a crowd of first-grade students during the school’s day of reading aloud to encourage an interest in listening to books and in reading books.

Some engaging questions came after the reading sessions. Fourth-graders Silvianis DeLeon, 9, Allyah Creighton, 9 and Kaleigh Urbanowicz, 10, among others, plied the speakers with inquiries about how books are written, where authors’ find story ideas and whether they, too, might write some books.

Principal Patricia Snow and all of the staff of Mt. Pleasant are reportedly avid enthusiasts of the many reading programs held there throughout the year. Resources abound. The school is an oasis of books and educational games and visual aids and teaching tools for children of all abilities. The Nashua Library is nearby. Phone apps for youngsters are available. One often utilized there is called, “Epic.” The app is featured online as a “safe place for kids to read, learn and explore.” The site is designed for on-the-go reading of 25,000 books, some of which the viewer can also hear aloud, in English and in Spanish.

Debbie Britenriker, a reading specialist with 13 years at Mt. Pleasant, commended the school for its embrace of an opportunity to partake in World Read Aloud Day and bring together so many readers and listeners in such a memorable way.

“The value of reading aloud is immense,” Britenriker said. “Today’s literature is amazing, as the authors are talking about meaningful subjects in a way that is appropriate for their grade level.”

Jen Grantham, the school’s technology teacher coach, concurred. She said that the students of today are “digital natives,” adept from an early age in the use of digital media, iPads, smartphones and computers. They’ve come a long way from the era of “Dick and Jane” books, she said.

Photo by LORETTA JACKSON Allyah Creighton, 9, a fourth-grade student at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School, is among the first to raise her hand in questioning a guest reader who finished reading a children’s book to the class during the school’s celebration of World Read Aloud Day, an offering from LitWorld, a New York based, worldwide nonprofit with the mission to increase literacy through reading, writing and storytelling progams, currently in place in 27 countries.

Grantham urged parents to adopt the habit of reading to their children before bedtime. She said the process can be brief, or confined to paging through a picture book and talking about it. She said that reading to a child forms a bond that is a strength for a lifetime.

“Reading time is a precious time to children,” Grantham said. “The moments you spend with your child are moments you’ll never get back.”

Courtesy photo Dotty Odin, Nashua school board president, reads aloud to some fifth-grade students and their teacher a copy of, “The Book of Mistakes” by Corinna Luyken during World Read Aloud Day at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School in Nashua.

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