Canada150 reading list a bonding experience

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This article was published 05/01/2018 (2971 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two brothers from Waverley Heights will be returning to school in the New Year savants in CanLit.

Gavin, 11,  and Korbin, 7, Pauls read 150 books in 2017 as part of the I Read Canadian Book Challenge organized by the Ontario Library Association. The nationwide competition was open to students from kindergarten to Grade 12 and is part of the association’s Forest of Reading program, which puts the focus of young readers on Canadian books, publishers, authors, and illustrators.

The two students at Chancellor School began the reading challenge in October after their school librarian suggested they get involved. Over the next three months the pair spent their spare time sharing stories, with Gavin often reading to his younger sibling.

“I started reading to him and I thought it would be best to include him in it rather than just have me do it,” Gavin said.

“I find it fun reading books. It’s kind of a cool accomplishment to read 150 books this year,” he added.

Parents Karen and John Pauls said their sons were eager to get the required reading done on their own, and the only role they had to play was picking up the dozens books from the library. Often Gavin and Korbin could be found filling lulls between sports and after school activities with a picture book or two.

“They’d bring a pile of books with them and they would read four or five as we would drive to swimming lessons or to visit family,” John said. “It was a routine — they’d read in the back of the car.”

“I’m proud of them for reading this many books,” Karen added. “When you’d see the stacks of books that we’d take home from the library and the fact that they persevered and that Gavin read out loud to Korbin that many books, it was quite impressive.”

Though his passion for reading and competition is as strong as his brother’s, Korbin, who is Grade 2, said the best part of the exercise wasn’t what he learned on the page.

“My favourite part was spending bonding time with my brother,” he said.

According to the Ontario Library Association’s website, all participants who complete the challenge are entered into a draw to receive a free set of 10 books for themselves and a free set of 10 books for their school or library.