The Big Read

In different parts of the country, libraries bring people together through a community-wide reading program that encourages everyone to read a selected book.  Discussions of the book and other related events are intended to promote understanding and enhance enjoyment of the reading material.

Happily, we have a such a reading program going on during the month of February here at our library.  The Big Read is a program we're participating in along with other libraries in Spokane County.  And the book selected is Jack London's The Call of the Wild.

The classic is told from the perspective of Buck, a dog that's a St. Bernard-Scotch Collie mix.  He lives a rather idyllic life with a good, caring family in California at the turn of the 20th Century.  That is, until the gardener's assistant takes and sells him.  Buck becomes a sled dog in the Klondike region of Canada, getting clubbed into submission, fighting other dogs, and learning how to survive.  Eventually, after one of his masters is killed by members of an Indian tribe, Buck follows his wild instincts and joins a pack of wolves, living with his new animal companions in the wilderness.

You can get free copies of The Call of the Wild at our library.  We will have a book discussion on February 24 at 6:30 p.m. as well as a music program on February 28 at     2 p.m. featuring songs from the Klondike Gold Rush.   For children, there is a fun event called "Who's Scat is That?" on February 21 at 1 p.m. that teaches how to identify different animal scat.

So, there's no need for the winter blahs this February.  We got plenty of interesting things to get you out of your cave and into civilization.  Come out of hibernating and get into the library!

Gettin' my "Wild" groove on at the perch.