By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Good books can take readers on magical adventures. For one Bowling Green family, books are taking them on a trip to Disney World.
Talk about a happy ending.
Parents Cindy Ducar and Ben Motisher are packing for Disney with their daughters Calista, 11, and Carina, 5. Last summer, when Ducar was teaching in Spain for Bowling Green State University, the two girls downloaded books onto their Kindles to keep themselves busy.
“I love to read,” Calista said. “When I read, it kind of just opens up a world and I go in it.”
Carina prefers books on fairies and princesses, while her older sister likes the “Hunger Games” and the “Harry Potter” series – which she has devoured seven times.
Both girls were signed up for the summer reading program at Wood County District Public Library. The program logs the minutes read, then rewards young readers with raffle tickets. Calista clocked 5,500 minutes, while Carina put in 1,300 minutes.
When the family returned to Bowling Green at the end of the summer, the girls recorded their time at the library and collected the raffle tickets they had earned. The girls didn’t win any raffle prizes, but they went home with tickets for free Happy Meals at McDonald’s.
Normally Ducar steers clear of fast food. “We try to eat healthier,” she said.
But the mom decided to splurge the day before school started, and loaded the girls in the car. Both ordered a burger and fries, complete with Lion King toys.
“We had a picnic outside,” Ducar recalled.
Calista noticed her Lion King toy had a tag with a QR code. “I was about to throw mine away,” she said.
But then the 11-year-old gave the tag another look – a very close look.
“She read the small print,” Ducar said.
That small print said the holder of the tag could win a prize. “I said, ‘You’ll probably win some fries,’” Ducar said.
Like many families juggling busy lives, the tag ended up under piles of paper, including the stacks of paper that come home the first day of school. When the tag was unburied, Ducar tried typing in the code several times before it was accepted.
The family had won far more than an order of fries. They won a five-day trip for four to Disney World, complete with transportation, lodging and $500 for spending.
Carina is planning to take her Disney princess dresses like those worn by Elsa, Rapunzel and Ariel. She is hoping to run into Elsa from “Frozen,” who is her favorite princess, “because she has magic powers,” Carina said.
Calista, who confided that she will never be too old to like princesses, said her all-time favorite is Rapunzel because she was daring enough to follow her dreams.
The parents are more interested in seeing the “Star Wars” exhibit.
Maria Simon, children’s librarian at Wood County District Public Library, said the summer reading program partners with several local businesses to offer prizes as incentives to young bookworms.
“This one is particularly magical,” Simon said.
Simon is thinking about adding a caveat to future summer reading program prizes – “When you win a prize, you must share,” she said with a smile.
But for now she will have to travel through a good book.
“For those of us who can’t go, we have to read about it,” Simon said. “You can visit all kinds of places in a book.”
