MANSFIELD – What seemed like an awesome song and dance party at St. Peter’s on Tuesday was actually a way to get kids excited about reading.
Students in grades pre-K through sixth grade gathered in the high school auditorium to hear tales from Eric Litwin, a No. 1 New York Times best-selling author of the first four “Pete the Cat” picture books. One of Litwin’s talents is bringing early literacy and music together in a way that engages young readers.
“What I think is so amazing is there are so many ways to read a book,” Litwin said. “If contemporary paradigms aren’t working, adapt to progressive learning.”
On Tuesday morning, St. Peter’s pre-K through second graders were treated to Litwin’s interactive storytelling method with funny dances and silly songs. Every single student in the auditorium was on their feet engaged, laughing and singing.
“They were having a blast,” said Lisa Salyers, the elementary librarian. “I really wanted to bring a speaker here for the younger kids; in preparation I read them as many books as I could.”
Litwin began his career as a teacher and a singer/storyteller. After noticing how engaged children were as he was singing, Litwin began utilizing these techniques in his classroom by adding music and movement to make learning more interactive.
“I knew it would make the books more fun, what I didn’t know is it would have such an extraordinary impact on reading comprehension,” he said. “As soon as that happened the light bulb went off, and I knew this was what I was supposed to do.”
The first four “Pete the Cat” books, authored by Litwin, have sold more than seven million copies, been translated into eight languages and won 18 literacy awards. Since then, Litwin has expanded to creating the musical series “The Nuts” and “Groovy Joe.”
At St. Peter’s, Litwin strummed his guitar and sang along with the students while reading “Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons.” He also told the students a few stories that are currently unpublished, and led the “polka-dot pants dance.”
“I’ve created books that have multiple forms of learning,” Litwin explained. “There are traditional methods in there, phonics and sight words, but there’s also music and movement and simple patterns. The words have certain repetitive phrases or different colors or a song, and all these things are helping them to read.”
The success of the “Pete the Cat” books has become a school phenomenon. According to Litwin, many classroom teachers are now using his books as a go-to for their beginning readers.
“It’s almost as if the concept is happening, but people don’t know why,” Litwin said. “That’s why I spend a lot of time explaining why this is working, where these ideas come from and what the ramifications are in how we approach literacy.”
Litwin’s ultimate goal is to change the paradigm on how to teach early reading. In the meantime, he’s happy touring the country making children laugh and getting them excited about reading.
“The best way for children to improve their reading scores is to actually read,” he said. “It’s one thing to dream it, and it’s another for it to actually happen.”
