PAK second-graders in Kimberly White’s class had a very special guest reader Wednesday, Sept. 28. Loretta Gould, author of the book “Meet Barnaby Benjamin Bear,” stopped in to read her book during the class’s library period.

Mrs. Gould was a familiar face to many staff members at PAK. She was Loretta Richner at the time she served as principal at Pakanasink before retiring in 2007. 

The story of Barnaby Benjamin Bear is an adventurous one! He traveled around the country and the world, visiting Washington D.C. and President Teddy Roosevelt (toy bears were named for him), New York City as a star in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Lillehammer, Norway to compete in the Olympics and so much more.

 

The children were mesmerized by Mrs. Gould’s storytelling, answering her questions about the places Barnaby traveled to.

Afterwards, Aubrey Zamonsky, PAK’s library media specialist, had the students write what their favorite Barnaby adventure was and then draw their own illustration of it.

 

Mrs. Gould shared that writing a children’s book was on her bucket list after her retirement. When she married her husband, Robert, who was a math teacher in the Newburgh school system for many years, that dream became a reality. Robert’s late father, John, was an award-winning artist. He had drawn many pictures of Barnaby, which sparked Mrs. Gould to write this book. Robert Gould had an original sketch of Barnaby in the library for the students to see.

 “These illustrations made it possible for me to become an author,” said Mrs. Gould, who signed a book for the library. “There are always new adventures out there for all of us, just like for Barnaby.”