- March 4, 2026
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From the moment Gina Shulman, a retired social worker, met eyes with second graders at Blanche H. Daughtrey Elementary School in the hallway outside their classroom, she was greeted with hugs.
The children exclaimed “Miss. Gina!” with a level of excitement that was hard to ignore.
After the students ate their snack, Shulman gathered them around her so she could read “Chicken Sunday” by Patricia Polacco.
Shulman is a volunteer with Books for Kids, a Lakewood Ranch Rotary program that provides volunteers who read aloud to children at 10 different schools in Manatee County. She volunteers on both a weekly and monthly basis for two different classes at Daughtrey. She has read to Hannah Williams’ second grade class for two years.
“One or two sessions and you're already connected to these kids,” Shulman said. “It's impossible not to connect with these children. They're naturally endearing, they're curious, and they're fun. It reminds us of why we love to read.”
Throughout the book, Shulman does her best to keep the children entertained and engaged through her use of facial expressions, hand gestures and extra explanations of words the students might not understand. It was clear that with every extra thing she did, it added to the children’s experience.
Brielle Rodriguez was one of the second graders who listened to Shulman's story.
“If you keep on reading, and reading, then you're going to get good at it,” Rodriguez said. “When you don’t know a letter or word that's in your book, then sound it out.”
Shulman's story involved children decorating their own Easter eggs to sell to earn money to buy a loved one a gift. Rodriguez heard Shulman read about Easter eggs and immediately was connected it to her own life. She told the class about her family doing an Easter egg hunt.
Shulman asked the students questions before, during, and after she read the book. Questions were based on a variety of things, such as what a title is, what they learned from the book, and what their favorite parts were.
Student Linda Medina would raise her hand in excitement at every opportunity. Medina said she loves it when her classmates can come together and listen to a story because she finds reading to herself to be lonely.
“She's like my favorite. I love the stories that she reads to me,” Medina said of Shulman. “They're goofy, funny, cool and creative.”
Stephanie Gomez watched Shulman in awe.
"She always takes her time when she comes to read to us," Gomez said. "I want to learn new things and I like to read new books. The book is teaching us about kindness."
Williams, who has been teaching at Daughtrey Elementary for 10 years, has welcomed various Books for Kids readers into her classroom throughout the years. For the last two years, it has been Shulman.
Williams said her students get extra excited when Shulman comes to read and they miss her when she can't be there. She makes reading fun.
“She uses great enthusiasm and facial expressions to get the students engaged in the story,” Williams said. “She provides higher level questions to make the students think about what they are hearing. Having Books for Kids coming into our class makes my students enjoy reading and keeps them excited to read at home on their own.”
Books for Kids distributes 3,600 books every month to 164 kindergarten, first, second and third grade classes in 10 schools in Manatee County. More than 3,600 children every month receive a special gift of a book.
Williams said her students come from different backgrounds and don’t always have access to books at home. Seeing the excitement they express when receiving their very own books warms her heart.
“Your brain has to grow and the program is showing the value of owning something,” Shulman said. “What could be better to own than a book? The program has been set up to teach children, not only to read, but the joy of it and that reading can take you anywhere. It's a critical skill.”
“It feels like I can read more and I can learn more,” Medina said. “It's very fun, because I can read to anyone I want to. I can read to my brothers and sisters and my mom and all that. It's amazing and it's fun.”
Ted Lindenberg is the director of Books for Kids. He said over 175 people volunteer as part of the weekly kindergarten program and or the monthly program. He said the program is about more than simply distributing books, it is about connections. The volunteers connect with the children through assisting with comprehension, vocabulary development and transferring the love of books.
“A book is a small thing,” Lindenberg said. “It fits in a backpack, it fits in a hand, but the impact of a book can last a lifetime. Somewhere tonight, a child will open a book they received through this program. Somewhere, a parent will hear their child read aloud with confidence. This happens because of the many readers and mentors that we have that give of their time and effort to help these children and we are not finished.”
