Hospital Prescribes Books for Children

Chanel Pugh is proof that literacy empowers and a love of reading can be taught.

Bent over a copy of “Toot and Puddle,” the 7-year-old ignored 30 noisy adults crowding in Friday for the grand opening of Children’s Hospital of Orange County’s Reading Clubhouse.

In the kid-sized fantasy environment--with small chairs resembling toadstools and lily pads, or tiny manhole-cover tables--Chanel was too busy reading.

When she came upon a word she couldn’t quite work out, she looked up at grandmother Dottie Mulkey of Santa Ana. Without missing a beat, Mulkey said: “Considered. That means, he thought about it.”

The moment highlighted the purpose of the hospital’s CHOCO’s Reading Club program, which emphasizes reading aloud to children and provides free books when children make regular visits to the clinic in Orange.

Mulkey, who had brought Chanel in for a checkup, said books have always been part of her family’s life. “The child has a library that won’t quit,” she said. “Kids are what you plant the seed for.”

CHOC launched the reading club in October, modeled after a similar program at Boston City Hospital. Friday was the grand opening of the reading room with its two-themed environments: Alphabet City, where children sit on soft construction-sign chairs and have reading prescriptions from their pediatricians filled at a clinic bookstore; and the Enchanted Forest, where the woods enclose a storytelling area where children can gather around a foam story-time stump.

The 20-by-30-foot room still smelled of glue and new carpeting as workers put finishing touches on the clubhouse--stenciling the legend “Alphabet City Book Store” on the glass doors of the book closet minutes before the opening ceremonies.

“As a mother of three, I can personally relate to not only the joy but the benefit of reading to children as early as 6 months of age,” said CHOC President Kimberly C. Cripe. “It prepares them from an emotional standpoint for the joy and the meaning of life.”

Dr. Geeta Grover, a pediatrician at the clinic who co-directs the reading program, said the program has been integrated into clinic visits: Physicians actively promote reading to parents, prescribe a free book on each visit and direct children to storytelling hours at the clubhouse adjacent to the first-floor clinic’s waiting room.

The reading program is based on good science, said Grover. Just as there are developmental milestones for infants and toddlers--sit at 6 months, walk at a year, have a 50-word vocabulary at 2--there are literacy milestones too, she said.

From 6 to 12 months children bite or mouth books and want to hold them, she said. Between 12 and 18 months, they will start bringing books to a parent and want to point at pictures. Finally, from 18 to 24 months children love repetition and want to hear the same story 100 times.

“We encourage children to handle books, to touch and feel them, to mouth them, and we tell parents it is all right and don’t get angry at them,” she said. “That is what we expect children to do. We want them to know these are their toys and they are there to give pleasure.”

In some cases, promoting literacy means teaching parents, who were never read to or are not themselves literate, about the pleasure of books, or modeling story-time with volunteer readers.

CHOC has bought the books with grants from Boston City Hospital, which created the concept, as well as Barnes & Noble and the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Orange County. Several local groups also have donated printing and other services.

Kathleen McCall, who co-directs the reading program with Grover. said they expect to give about 45,000 books to youngsters this year. By the time a child is 6, he or she will have received 10 books if the patient gets regular wellness checkups, she said.

Volunteers are welcome to join the storytelling corps, she said.

The child-friendly clubhouse comes courtesy of Exhibit Works of Foothill Ranch, using the same expertise it employs making displays for trade shows and museums.

The hospital long has provided books and videos for patients. The clubhouse is a similar effort to reach clinic patients. On opening day Friday, it was already having an impact.

Near the story time stump, Iris Villa, 3, was torn. She could look at a copy of “The Flower Princess” or listen to Choco, the hospital’s bear mascot, talk to three other youngsters.

Eventually, her attention turned to the book, and her father, Jose Villa of Orange, pointed to a picture and asked: “Que es?”

“Butterfly,” she responded.