The baby needs milk, cuddles, games… but also stories. According to the formula of the Cultural Association against Segregation and Exclusion (CCES), founded by three child psychiatrists in the 80s, “books are good for babies”. So in partnership with the Mas-d’Azil library, the Arize-Lèze early childhood relay launched a first prize for the baby reader, enriching its project by making an evolving and hand-sewn reading mat.
Accustomed to meeting at the library of their village to choose books with their children and listen to the stories told by the librarians, the childminders of Arize-Lèze wanted to get more involved in transmitting a taste for reading. With the director of the early childhood relay, they launched the first edition of a prize for baby readers, called to be extended throughout the territory. They have set themselves the challenge of making their own reading mat, a cocoon and privileged awakening tool to install baby comfortably during reading.
After testing different “reading mat” and “telling mat” formulas, they opted for a modular and scalable version, consisting of several pillows of the same size, attachable to each other or used separately. Each pillow is wrapped in a thematic cover made with great care, concealing in pockets or under flaps little marvels of figurines or felt… That’s a few many hours of sewing!
The bottom of the ocean, farm animals, wolves and black and white are the first subjects chosen by the assistants to lay the foundations for this rug which will grow over the years.
Their creation will be presented to the public on Thursday June 1, at 10:30 a.m. at the Mas-d’Azil library, during the Etincelles company’s show “Pilou Pilou le Kangourou”. At the same time, the baby reader first prize will be revealed, elected from a selection of six titles provided by the Mas-d’Azil library.