'The kids light up'; Furry friends become reading buddies at Pleasanton library

PLEASANTON -- It's reading time at the Pleasanton library and youngsters are cuddled up with canine comfort teams as they turn their pages.

It's called the Paws to Read program. Since November 2002, librarians have been teaming up students ranging from the first through fifth grade with Valley Humane Society's comfort dogs.

Over the past 20 years, more than 15,000 kids have participated in program.   

"I think one of the cutest things is when a child presents a book to the dog and they ask the dog to pick so whatever the dog picks the child reads," one of the K9 handlers said. "It is so cute."    

After reporting on the program, KPIX's Juliette Goodrich was so inspired she wrote a children's book for the library called "Paws Goes To the Library" in 2013.

Today, Nila is reading to her furry buddy Huckleberry . 

"The kids light up and they just love reading to him,"  Huckleberry's owner said. "He just loves Iistening." 

The program was the brainchild of Sue Jones .

 "We started out not knowing where it was going to go and it just blossomed," Jones told KPIX. 

One parent said the program gives their child privacy and space without having the mom and dad to pressure them read properly.

Meanwhile, Cindy's mom says her daughter used to have a hard time reading until taking part in the program.

It has also inspired many local and national libraries to have similar programs  to help children improve their literacy skills .  

 "About 18 years ago my brother came to Paws to Read and now I'm bringing my eight-year-old son," Markell Wilson said.