Quadruple figures
Mar. 23—Lucas Leachman is 3 1/2 years old and has already reached an educational milestone.
He's the first child to complete the "1000 Books Before Kindergarten" program at the Asotin County Library.
To clarify, Lucas isn't reading the books himself (at least not yet), but his parents, Kristina and Brian Leachman, read to him along with his grandmas. The 1,000 books can also be repeats. After all, reading is reading.
Lucas has enjoyed the program and likes crossing off the number of books he's read. The kids in the program also get prizes like bubbles, flags, fidget toys, farm animal toys and maracas. The program also has donated books for families to take home. If they like the book they can keep it; if not they can bring it back to donate.
When Lucas reached 1,000 books he got to play with bubbles and received a completion package, which included books, of course.
Kristina signed Lucas up at the Asotin County Library after learning about the program on Facebook. The Leachmans live in Lewiston but the free program is available to everyone in north central Idaho and southeastern Washington.
"He loves books, so I thought, you know, why not? Go sign up for 1,000 books — we'll see where we get," Kristina said.
She didn't think he would get through the books as fast as he did, much less be the first child to finish.
The two visit the library every Tuesday for story time, although Kristina doesn't count those books, only the ones read at home. The weekly visits have made him a regular at the library.
"They all say hello to him by name," Kristina said about the librarians who read to him during story time and give book recommendations.
When story time is over, Lucas picks out his books, usually 10-12, and as soon as he gets home he wants to read them. He likes to read 12-20 in one sitting.
"Whenever he wants to (read) during the day he just tells us and we sit down and we read," Kristina said.
Lucas also gets two books read to him at bedtime, but he requests more.
"We try to cut it off there — otherwise he would want to read 20," Kristina said.
His favorite books are books about animals, dinosaurs and space, but he likes fiction too, like "Curious George" and "Dr. Seuss." He's also following in his mother's footsteps, who had similar reading tastes when she was a young reader.
"I've always loved books, so it's nice to read to him," she said.
Kristina has seen how the increased reading has helped Lucas' learning.
"He's learned all his planets. He knows a lot of the animals. He's learning constellations," Kristina said. "His speech has gotten a lot better with all the reading."
Just because he's hit the goal of 1,000 books doesn't mean Lucas is slowing down. Kristina's next goal is 5,000 books.
"Whatever he wants is what we go for, as long as we keep our bedtime routine of two books," Kristina said.
Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.
