The SPCA has launched a series of original storybooks into schools with the aim of helping Kiwi kids to both improve their reading skills and learn to care for and respect animals.
The six books in the series cater to different ages and reading levels. Each story is based on a real-life animal rescue from the SPCA, and contains messages about animal care, animal welfare, and tips for families on how to be responsible pet owners.
“Research tells us that the best way to achieve behavioural change is by reaching out to children between seven and 12 years old,” SPCA New Zealand CEO (Acting) Andrea Midgen says. “By educating the next generation of animal owners, we can help ensure a better future for all animals.”
The SPCA Learn-to-Read Storybooks are skillfully written to enable teachers to integrate them straight into their classroom literacy programmes. The intention of each story is to teach core animal welfare messages, while also supporting the development of children’s reading skills and strategies.
All 2127 primary and intermediate schools in New Zealand have received six sets of each book free, thanks to help from Sunshine Books and SPCA supporters.
“Our SPCA Storybooks feature fun and engaging characters that kids will identify with and want to read about, all while earning important lessons about compassion and empathy towards people and animals,” Midgen says.
“For example, one of the stories features two children who help an abandoned cat that lives under their school’s sports shed. The story ends with an SPCA Inspector rescuing the cat from a drainpipe and giving a bravery award to the children.”
The SPCA’s aim is for every child to grow up to respect animals and be a responsible pet owner. By doing so, the SPCA hopes to break the cycle of animal cruelty in New Zealand communities and reduce the number of abused and neglected animals that need the SPCA’s help each year.
“Already the response from schools has been overwhelmingly positive. We’ve had teachers and principals write to us and thank us for providing free resources that promote their key classroom values: being kind and compassionate, and caring for each other,” says Ms Midgen.
The SPCA Storybooks are the latest addition to the SPCA Education programme launched in July 2016. SPCA Education is an evidence-based programme for New Zealand schools that aligns with the Curriculum and teaches animal welfare in a real-life, meaningful context.