By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
If a lion and a tiger got in a tussle, who would come out on top? If a tarantula and a scorpion started a skirmish, who would be left standing? And if a Komodo dragon and a king cobra came to blows, who would walk – or slither – away?
Later this spring, all Bowling Green elementary students will be given the chance to learn about these animals and more when the 1BookBG program delivers a book from the “Who Would Win?” series to an estimated 1,800 kindergarten through fifth grade students at the public and private schools in the city.
But a little help from the community is needed to put a copy of the non-fiction books in the hands of all 1,800 students.
The books cost $3 each, and donations have already been flooding in – but at least $1,000 is still needed, according to Stacey Higgins, a Crim Elementary teacher who is organizing this year’s 1BookBG.
“It is a simple way of making a difference,” Maria Simon, youth services coordinator at Wood County District Public Library, said about donating toward the book purchases.
Wood County District Public Library is helping with 1BookBG by bringing the author, Jerry Pallotta, to each school and to the library.
“He’s going to be fun,” Simon said. “He goes into the wild to do this research. He’ll be fun for the students to talk to.”
The “Who Would Win” series was selected because they are proven page turners among local elementary students, Higgins said.
“It is a very popular series with our students,” she said. “They love that competition part of it.”
And teachers love that young readers are learning a lot of facts from the books.
“They are learning without realizing it,” Higgins said.
For example, who knew that a Killer Whale does not grow back new adult teeth when they lose the old ones – but Great White Sharks grow new teeth for the 3,000 or so they lose in a lifetime.
And who could have guessed that alligators can hold their breath underwater for about 15 minutes, while pythons can last at least 30 minutes without coming up for air.
And who would suspect that typical tigers are much sneakier than lions, but male lions are protected during fights by their thick manes.
Since 2015, the 1BookBG shared reading program has united the community in reading one book with the elementary students. Each elementary child in the district was given a copy of the book, with parents of younger students being asked to read them aloud to their children.
But due to growing expenses, the program had to evolve and instead of one book per child, in recent years it provided one book per family.
However, this year Bowling Green City School District has teamed up with the Wood County District Public Library to make sure there are enough books to go around.
“It is so much more powerful for a student to have their own copy in their hands, rather than sharing with a sibling,” Higgins said. “We are so fortunate to partner with the library like this.”
The hope is that students will be so hooked by the series that they will trade them with each other to learn about other animals – like grizzly vs. polar bears, hyenas vs. honey badgers, and wolverines vs. Tasmanian Devils.
The entire community is invited to help with 1BookBG. The program has been expanded to all the public and private schools in the city. And businesses will be enlisted to offer “mission stops” around the community for the young readers. High school students will be involved in reading along with the elementary students.
Donations to help purchase the books should be made payable to the BG Board of Education, noting 1BookBG in the memo line, and be mailed or dropped off at the Bowling Green Administrative Offices, 137 Clough St., Bowling Green, OH, 43402.
