News

29.05.2019

The Book Institute supports the project of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Toronto “Reading in Polish”

The Book Institute has donated copies of the book Pierwsze wiersze ("First poems..."), which will be included in the reading layettes given to children by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Toronto as part of the "Reading in Polish" project.

The “Reading in Polish” project aims to encourage the youngest section of the Canadian Polish community to learn Polish and read Polish books. Reading layettes have been distributed for over a year now to children under seven, whose large and annually growing group collect their first Polish passport at the Consulate. The reading layettes are also given to first year pupils of Polish schools in the Toronto consular district which includes the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and the territory of Nunavut.

The whole reading set is a symbolic "first" book wrapped in a bag with the logotype of the project (this year it is the "First poems..." published by the Book Institute as part of the campaign "Little Book - Great Man"), a publication prepared by the Consulate (from the substantive and graphic side) containing, among others, a list of recommended books and comics by Polish authors for children aged 0-3, 3-5 and pre-schoolers, Polish enumerations, as well as advice for parents on how to encourage children to read in Polish and how to spend time together reading Polish books.

The parents' guide also contains addresses of selected Canadian libraries that have a Polish book collection. The list of recommended books consists of contemporary Polish titles as well as classics, especially for the youngest. Every year, the list is updated.

The project of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Toronto is the first such initiative in Canada. "Reading in Polish" is one of the elements of the whole cycle of activities of the Consulate in Toronto, which promotes Polish language learning and reading in Polish.

The Book Institute also supports the activities of the Polish Consulate in Toronto in organising meetings of Polish writers at the Toronto International Festival of Authors.