In just 2 months, young Staten Island girl reads 413 books

 

ZNE NZNE READERIsabella Policarpo, 6, of West Brighton with some of the more than 400 books she read this summer, making her the borough's top reader in the New York Public Library's Summer Reading Program. (Photo Courtesy of Milena Policarpo)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - WEST BRIGHTON - Six-year-old Isabella Policarpo learned to read two years ago, when she was 4-years-old. She hasn't stopped since.

Over the summer, the soon-to-be-first-grader read 413 books – most of them borrowed from the New York Public Library's (NYPL) Todt Hill-Westerleigh branch – making her Staten Island's top children's reader in the NYPL's Summer Reading Program.

For that achievement she'll get to see her name on the scoreboard at Yankee Stadium during the Bronx Bomber's Aug. 29 afternoon game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

She'll also get to step on the field and meet with Yankee outfielder Curtis Granderson, who hit his 200th career homerun Sunday against the Cleveland Indians. Isabella, as well as the top children and teen summer readers from the NYPL's Bronx and Manhattan branches, will get to hear their names announced over the stadium's public address system before the game.

Isabella lives in West Brighton, and is a student at Gateway Academy in Richmond Valley. She will be accompanied to the game by her parents, Milena and Tony Policarpo.

Ironically, Policarpo, who works as a commodities trader in Manhattan, is a loyal Mets fan. The family has only been to see the Yankees play in their Subway Series match-ups against the Mets, and they rooted for the Mets.

At his daughter's insistence, however, Policarpo said he'd root for the Yankees for a day. The couple even showed Isabella a video of Granderson hitting his 200th homerun to psych her up for the game.


NOT SURPRISED  
 

Her mom said she was not surprised by Isabella's achievement in reading. "She loves all different kinds of books," Mrs. Policarpo said.

She's been taking her daughter to the NYPL's Todt Hill-Westerleigh branch once a week since June to pick out new books. Sometimes Isabella has borrowed up to the maximum 50 children's books at a time. She's had her own library card since she was 3, and her mom also borrows books for her.

"We started going to the library two years ago. Her first year, she read over 300 books. Last year, she read over 350, and this year she read 413. It was her own personal goal to beat her record each year," Mrs. Policarpo said.

While she and her husband read to Isabella, Isabella reads many of the books herself. "She grew up listening to stories while sitting on my lap, and now she reads to me and her 6-month-old sister, Angelina," Mrs. Policarpo said.

Some of Isabella's favorites are "An Extraordinary Egg" by Leo Lionni, and Mo Willems' "Elephant & Pig" books, and of course, Dr. Seuss.

Every summer the NYPL invites young readers to participate in its Summer Reading Program online by creating an account at www.summerreading.org. Each time they complete a book, they can log in the title and author, and can even write a review that is, in turn, added to their profile. The NYPL keeps tabs on the website, tracking the most frequent users and tallying the number of books completed by each, and announcing the top borough readers at the end of the summer.
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