Aliant has teamed up with P.E.I.'s provincial libraries to provide children's stories over the telephone.
'Parents are busy, grandparents aren't necessarily in the same community.'— Barb Kissick, librarian
The program was launched Thursday, with pre-recorded age-appropriate books available on the phone in either French or English.
Librarian Barb Kissick said she hopes the new service will help get kids excited about literacy.
"One of the building blocks to actually reading is listening to stories," said Kissick.
"In this busy lifestyle, you know sometimes that little thing is missed. We've had children coming into the library who don't know the nursery rhymes. And we got thinking, well you know parents are busy, grandparents aren't necessarily in the same community, but they could pick up a phone and hear at least the nursery rhymes, the folk and fairy tales."
Kissick said the phone line will also help French immersion students whose parents don't speak French. Those students will be able to hear a story in French and listen for the proper accents.
Several public libraries across the country offer the service, Kissick noted.
This week's stories in English are The Emperor's New Clothes for the under-fives, and Cinderella for the over-fives. The titles will be changed every two weeks.
The toll-free story phone number, available in many provinces across Canada, is 1-888-280-7070.
