Bellingham Story Walk: An Interactive Reading Experience
The Bellingham DPW installed 13 displays, paid for with ARPA funds, at Bellingham Town Common.
By Jennifer Russo
An excited crowd gathered on April 29th for the ribbon cutting of Bellingham’s own Story Walk, a project that has been in the works for a couple of years. With some of the town’s ARPA funding received to mitigate effects of the pandemic and approval from Bellingham town leaders, the Town Commons is now home to this walk-through reading adventure.
Renée Kurilla, Bellingham resident and author/illustrator of One Springy, Singy Day - the Bellingham Story Walk’s first featured book, is shown here with Board of Library Trustees and some close relatives.
Installed by the DPW, thirteen permanent displays now stand along the walking path within the Commons, and stories will be changed out on a regular basis. Each display has one or two pages of the story, so children and their families can follow along while they enjoy the outdoors.
“With everything that happened during the pandemic, we realized how important it was to do things outside and get some fresh air,” says Bernadette Rivard, Bellingham Library Director. “We did some research and saw that Southboro had something similar that we really wanted to bring to our community. It will be great for families and quick class trips, and we may organize it around different themes.”
Renée Kurilla, Bellingham resident and author/illustrator of One Springy, Singy Day - the Story Walk’s first featured book, did the honors of cutting the ceremonial ribbon, joined by the Board of Library Trustees and some close relatives.
The book was inspired by the author’s daughter Zoey, who was two years old when the book was written. It’s simply about several young children doing the funny things that they do, and kids reading it will no doubt relate to their charming antics.
“I was sitting on the floor playing with my daughter, surrounded by toys and crayons when I thought of this story,” says Kurilla. “I’d call her glowy Zoey, showy Zoey, and other rhyming words which corresponded to our activities at the time.”
Another book is planned for late summer, called One Upside Downy Day, a book focused on navigating emotions when things don’t go quite so wonderfully.
Kurilla walked the group through the book, stopping at each display to read the pages to local children, who would then run off giggling to the following page, excited to hear the next part of the story.
Jovie Falcone, 4, said her favorite part of the book was when someone had noodles in their hair, while Noah Lamour, 7, and his sister Chiara, 5, thought the bath time page was especially hilarious.
When we got to the last page of the book, there was a round of applause. It is easy to see how this will be a wonderful activity for families, especially now that the weather is getting warmer.
Stop by the Bellingham Story Walk and read the story for yourself. It begins just next to the parking lot at the Town Commons and works its way around the perimeter - just follow the arrows and start reading!
