Spreading the good words

If you find yourself in downtown Ithaca these days and you look up above the Harold’s Square project on the Commons, you’ll notice a bright white banner dangling from the bright yellow crane. The rainbow letters identify exactly what you’re looking at, “Tower Crane.” Free words, there for the taking.

This week, Tompkins County is invited to celebrate the power of words by wearing them, singing them, reading them, and collecting them. Inspired by the book “The Word Collector,” by Peter H. Reynolds, Brigid Hubberman, founder of the national non-profit organization Children’s Reading Connection (CNC), is on a mission to celebrate words. “The Word Collector” is the story of a young boy who loves words so much he collects them, and eventually he starts to connect with his community through this love of words.

Thursday, April 25 through Sunday, April 28 will be filled with activities inspired by “The Word Collector” as a community-wide effort to get kids reading and falling in love with words. But it’s not just a literacy program that will end here. Hubberman plans on spreading the program nationally with the help of Scholastic Books, one of the largest publishers of children’s books in the world.

“Children’s Reading Connection is a national literacy organization still in its start-up time, but it’s working to create community,” Hubberman said. “Change only happens at the community level best. So, to create models that other communities can pick up and they can make their own. When we share with others, they’ll share back and things always get stronger.”

Community involvement in “The Word Collector” initiative has been vital. Last summer, with the help of the Southside Community Center and the Community Unity Music Education Program (CUMAP) Hubberman was able to get the book into the hands of hundreds of local kids in the program. With the help of the project manager of the Harold Square project, she got the banner on the tower crane. With the help of local school districts and teachers, elementary classes across the county have created their own initiatives inspired by “The Word Collector.”

Bringing people together over the same book is a way to build both community and literacy, and that’s exactly what Hubberman wants to do.

“The book itself is, of course, the central piece,” she said. “That’s the catalyst and that’s the connector. When you give it to multiple children, then they have a connection to each other. There’s a connection back to their school, a connection back to community.”

The celebration of words starts on Thursday, April 25 when everyone is invited to Wear A Word Day. Have a favorite word? Have a word you think is cool? Show it off! Put it on a Post-It and wear it out.

With a generous donation from an anonymous donor, Hubberman has been able to give out around 9,000 copies of “The Word Collector” to local elementary classes, libraries, and organizations. On April 26, The Great Family, School, and Community Read of “The Word Collector” kicks off. Children who do not attend school can get their own free copy of the book at their local library while supplies last. But even if you can’t get your hands on the book, you’ll still be able to read it. Along the athletic field fence at Ithaca High School, 4-foot high prints of each page of the book have been hung up for a walk-along story.

The word celebration peaks on Saturday, April 27 with the Word Collector Extravaganza at Ithaca High School. The extravaganza starts at 10 a.m. with welcoming remarks and a reading of the book by the author himself, Peter H. Reynolds. From 10:30 to 2 p.m. attendees can celebrate the book, and their favorite words, with arts, entertainments, and activities of all kinds. At 1 p.m. kids of all ages and their parents can wear their favorite words and participate in the Word Parade.

To make the event more easily accessible, Hubberman has enlisted the help of another local community partner: TCAT. Children and their families attending the extravaganza can get a free ride to the event just by showing their public library card or the event flyer.

To keep the celebration going, CRC is hosting a dinner Saturday night at The Hotel Ithaca to honor Reynolds and everyone else who helps kids fall in love with reading and words. Reynold’s books will be on sale and he will be available to sign them from 5 to 6 p.m. Tickets cost $30. Find more information at childrensreadingconnection.org.

Anyone interested in learning more about the extravaganza and how they can create their own is invited to a “How To and Review” event on Sunday, April 28 at the Tompkins County Public Library from 9 to 11 a.m.

“Reach for your own words. Tell the world who you are, and how you will make it better,” from “The Word Collector.”