Among the stacks of books in the Green Hills branch of the Nashville Public Library, kids can be found reading all sorts of books.
Yet, on some days Kindergartners like Elena can be found with a furry friend nearby. With a copy of "The Grumpy Ladybug" placed at her lap she read aloud to "Thor" a certified therapy dog.
Elena can read to her friend thanks to a program called READing Paws, which is offered through the Nashville Public Library.
Thor's handler, Darrell Hewston, sat a long side of them. "The whole point of the program is that dogs are not judgmental, they'll just sit and pay attention hopefully, and the children will read to the dog, and it helps with their reading and comprehension skills," said Hewston.
The READing Paws program lets kids come in and read to the animals. Instead of the pressure of reading to peers in front of a classroom, kids are encouraged to orate stories to curious canines like Thor. Hewston said, "The dogs are very good reading partners. If the child is having difficulty, the dog kind of sits and listens, and knows what the kids are saying. It gives the children a little more confidence."
Confidence is particularly important for kids that are learning the English language for the very first time. Yun-Jung Uhm and her family immigrated from South Korea last summer. She brought her children, Dennis Oh and Chloe Oh, to read to Thor.
"It brought them some confidence, saying 'Yes! I can read in English!' So I think reading helps them a lot to learn English," said Uhm.
About a quarter of all kids in Nashville Metro Schools are not native English speakers, and the READing Paws program gives them a "helping paw" with getting up to speed in school.
"A child comes in here, and maybe they're in the 4th grade, and they're only reading at a 2nd or 3rd grade level, and they're doing everything else very well. It's obvious that it's just the words in a foreign language are their issue, so we more-or-less allow them to approach the reading at their own level, at their own pace."
The meeting of kids and dogs is special for the furry friends too, especially Thor. He was a rescue dog that Hewston picked up from the Williamson County Animal Shelter.
"We went through a long process of trying to interview dogs and various shelters and locations trying to find a dog that would be a nice replacement for the therapy dog we lost 7 years ago," said Hewston. "That's when we happened upon Thor."
It's a new vocation for a dog that was once abandoned in Fairview. Hewston said, "It's not a bad gig for a dog!"
When Elena finished reading her book, she said "It's just great. I know that the dog doesn't mind me messing up the words, it's just the fun for me," as Thor laid curled up asleep by her side.
