One for My Baby

All Vermonters born this year will receive a tote bag that holds three board books; a videotape on the importance of reading to babies; a coupon for a free fourth book, redeemable at public libraries; and a copy of Where the Wild Things Are with a taped reading by actor James Earl Jones. The babies will get their books when they show up for their six-month doctor's visit.

Behind this display of largesse are the folks at the Vermont Business Roundtable, which represents 115 state CEOs. Normally, the roundtable works on shaping public policy, but a couple of years ago, the state education commissioner asked members to get more involved with early literacy. Maxine Brandenberg, the group's president (and a proud grandmother), came up with the idea of books for newborns, says Cynthia Tokos Pristow, who's running the project.

The roundtable turned for advice to, among others, the Vermont Center for the Book and the state Department of Libraries. Grace Greene, the library department's children's services consultant, wrote a brochure offering tips on early literacy that will be inserted into newspapers as part of an all-out publicity blitz this month. (The first babies will get their six-month check-ups in June.)

And what books will babies receive in their tote bags? They'll get The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle; Clap Hands by Helen Oxenbury; and Pussycat Pussycat by Iona Opie and illustrated by Rosemary Wells. With their library coupons, parents can then pick up a copy of Wells's book Max's Bath. Copies of Where the Wild Things Are were donated by Bell Atlantic, as was the taped reading by company spokesman James Earl Jones. In November, Bell Atlantic paid for Jones to come to Vermont to do library readings promoting the project.--A. G.