a e

By Tricis Carzoli

NEWS@THEWOODSTOCKINDEPENDENT.COM

“I love reading!” 7-year-old Jae Patrick Johnson said after finishing at the top of the winter reading program at the Woodstock Public Library.

A long-time summer reading participant, Jae has always loved books.

“We would go to the library story times,” mother Shelle Johnson said. “And we read at home. He would bring stacks of books to me to read to him.”

That reading and story time at the library helped the early reader to find his niche.

“I was a preschool teacher,” Johnson said. “I loved it when the students were at the point where they were learning about the sounds the letters made and phonics. Jae started to read early – and I never really got to teach him. He already knew how. That is how his mind works.”

Johnson now uses her teaching background to educate her own children.

“I love teaching, and I love going through that process with my own kids,” she explained. “We have a lot of fun together. … It helps us grow closer as a family.”

Thanks to his mom’s expertise, the homeschooled Jae was reading at age 3. And he hasn’t stopped.

“This is his sport,” his mother explained. “This is his thing.”

Jae really likes the Magic Treehouse books series, “and, in fact, we might actually build a tree house of our own,” Johnson said.

With his passion for the series, his mom said, she has been thinking about trying to build one.

“He and his sister love to act out the Magic Treehouse books,” she said, “so, yeah, we would like to try to build something.”

This appetite for the written word grew, and Jae took the top spot in last summer’s reading program by reading 184 hours and earning a medal and three lanyards full of buttons representing every three hours of reading.

- Jae Patrick

INDEPENDENT PHOTOS BY TRICIA CARZOLI

This year, the library’s head of youth services, Kate Tripp, decided to add a winter reading program to the mix.

Jae responded by challenging himself to read the same amount of hours.

“It was hard, because of Christmas,” Johnson said. “But he was committed. He said, ‘I’m going to meet that goal,’ and he did. I’m so proud of him!”

At the end of the summer reading program, Jae was able to make his own final button with the library’s button machine, and Tripp presented him with a medal. This time around, Tripp let Jae make his final 17 buttons – and she awarded him a trophy.

“It’s been great to see Jae’s love of reading grow just as much as he has over the years,” Tripp said. “He and his family are regulars; everyone here knows Jae. … Teachers and parents lie and say they don’t have a favorite student or child. Librarians don’t lie. Jae is my favorite.”

His mother gives credit to the library staff.

“And I have to give a shout-out to Miss Kate [Tripp], who has done so much for Jae,” Johnson said. “She makes it very special for him – and it is nice for him to be recognized for his [passion]. She encourages him.”

Jae agreed.

“Miss Kate is so awesome. Reading is so awesome!” he said. “And Miss Kate is like reading smooshed together with a good book. She is like the most amazing story book in the world.”

As for his plans for the future, Jae is certain he will participate in the reading program this summer.

“I am looking forward to anything related to reading,” he said.

Johnson was confident that the summer reading program would again be utilized by Jae – and his 5-year-old sister, Anneliese.

“I will never stop reading,” he assured his mom.