Texas Rangers Share Special Storytime at Arlington’s Downtown Library

By Kimberly Yee

Posted on June 26, 2018, June 26, 2018

Dozens of children gathered at the new George W. Hawkes Downtown Library on Tuesday afternoon for a special storytime with Texas Rangers pitcher Chris Martin and Eric Nadel, Hall of Fame radio broadcaster and voice of the Texas Rangers.

The storytime was part of the 18th annual Texas Rangers Summer Reading Club, which is under way at local libraries in Arlington and other North Texas communities.

Nadel read Nancy Chumin's picture book The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game. Children learned through the story how the hand signals became part of the game after player William Ellsworth Hoy lost his hearing and had to figure out how to understand the umpire's calls. Nadel said that this year's focus during storytime visits has been to share books about the differences among people.

Martin read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, which is a tale of an ever hungry caterpillar that eats until he grows into a beautiful butterfly.

At the end of storytime, Nadel and Martin read a book called Knuckleball Ned by R.A. Dickey, a story about anti-bullying.

About the Texas Rangers Summer Reading Program

All participants K through 12 are welcome to join the Texas Rangers Summer Reading Program and are encouraged to keep track of reading logs. Students are asked to record the number of minutes they read from Monday through Friday over a four-week period on the reading log to become an official summer Reading Club All-Star.

All Reading Club participants are eligible for discounted tickets for the Rangers home game with the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, Aug. 17. Students should check with their local library for specifics on how to earn the discounted ticket, which is priced at just $6 per student. Family members and friends may buy additional tickets at a discounted price for the Aug. 17 game if purchased by mail in advance by Wednesday, Aug. 15.

For more information on the 2018 Texas Rangers Summer Reading Program, please call 817-273-5137.