Tunny, the therapy dog, gets student to read out loud!

My basenji, Tunny, and I have been doing Reading with the Children at two schools for almost 5 years. Our coolest moment so far was a little boy in first grade who was very smart, but absolutely refused to read out loud - to anyone.

Not his parents, any teachers, a classmate - no one. He came into the library and sat down on Tunny's little quilt and I asked him to read to us and he said no - so I read the book he brought to him and the book made me laugh. I told him that Tunny loved that book! The next time we were at that school library he ran over to us, sat down on Tunny's quilt and read that book out loud with amazing emphasis. I laughed and laughed (it was a Mo Willems book about the elephant, the pigeon and the pig) and Tunny sat up and looked at him the whole time. He talked his parents into buying him a number of the Elephant And Pig books and practiced and practiced until he could read them like an entertainer. He is now in 5th grade and he still takes books home and practices reading them out loud before he comes to read to Tunny. They are much more advanced books, but he still reads like an entertainer because he practices and practices.

My fellow HOTTD members and I were leaving at the end of that first year and when we got to the school office to check out, two adults who turned out to be his parents, were waiting for us. Both of them cried when they thanked Tunny for teaching their son to read out loud and love books. That is Tunny's and my Aha moment.