News Release Distributed 09/24/13

BATON ROUGE, La. – Children between the ages of three and eight can get in the spirit of fall and increase their reading skills at a series of free events in October and November at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden.

All children participating in the program must be accompanied by a parent, but the event is free.

Story Time at Burden, a program supported in part by the Junior League of Baton Rouge, will prepare the little ones for Halloween with a family-friendly reading of “The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin,” written by Joe Troiano and illustrated by Susan Banta.

The reading will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Botanic Gardens’ Steele Burden Memorial Orangerie. Children also will be able to participate in imagination-themed activities related to the book and fall season.

Readings and activities will begin every 30 minutes with the last reading at 10:30 a.m. The program will end at 11 a.m.

Story Time on Saturday, Nov. 9, will focus on fall foliage and colors. It will include a reading of Lois Ehlert’s “Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf” and related activities for children.

“The Story Time program is a creative way of mixing storytelling, reading and imaginative, hands-on educational activities,” said LSU AgCenter professor Becky White, who heads the program. “The program is inspired by the Storyteller’s Garden in Grasmere Cumbria, England, which I discovered by accident on a vacation.”

“I thought the idea was a charming one and would translate easily at Story Time at Burden.”

More information is available by telephone at 225-763-3990, email or online at www.discoverburden.com.