If there’s one thing we love doing here at I Love the Burg, it’s reading a good book. This September, we’re getting a great excuse to do just that with National Read a Book Day, and one local organization is jumping in on the fun in a family-friendly way. Powered by the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County, Turbo Babies is going all out for the bookish holiday, complete with several children’s read-along events around Pinellas County.

On Saturday, September 7, young families can join one of three read along gatherings happening throughout the area, all of which are completely free to attend. The Race Track Read Alongs bring families and children together for an hour and a half at city libraries, giving young ones and their parents an opportunity to read together, make new friends, and explore the treasure troves that are our local libraries.

Interested families can register here. Each of the three read alongs take place from 10:15-11:45 am on Saturday, September 7 and will have free breakfast, entertainment, and giveaways while supplies last:

• St. Pete West Community Library – 6700 8th Avenue North
• Largo Public Library – 120 Central Park Drive (read along in English and Spanish)
• Tarpon Springs Public Library – 138 E Lemon St

While we await National Read a Book Day, families can also enter a drawing for a chance to win a Fisher-Price Toy Car Activity Center prize package valued over $100. Entry is free, and details on how to enter can be found here.

The ethos behind Turbo Babies is to ensure our young ones start learning from the day they’re born. They emphasize that not only does learning start at birth, so should reading. Even just hearing new words helps their brain grow: at age one, children recognize about 50 words, and by age three they can recognize nearly 1,000 words.

Turbo Babies represents the rapid pace at which children from birth to three develop and grow. The campaign is fueled by the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County to encourage early connections, nurture a baby’s drive to learn, and support parents and other caregivers as their child’s first and best teachers. Follow them on Facebook to see the latest.

Meanwhile, for readers of all ages, we’re thrilled that St. Pete is so full of great independent bookstores. Staff favorites include Tombolo Books, Book + Bottle, Wilson’s Book World, and Book Rescuers, though the list of great spots goes on and on.

More bookish stories to check out:

• A magical children’s bookstore, The Story Garden, will open this fall in St. Pete
• The Book Rescuers re-home or recycle 4 tons of books weekly, plan for major expansion
• Denzel Johnson-Green wants St. Pete to “indulge in poetry like bread”
• Five things you didn’t know about Haslam’s Bookstore in St. Pete
• St. Pete Beach movie theater to return and it could be joined by an indie bookstore