By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

Martha Dana and her orangutan delighted the crowd at Camp Wannaread's final event at the Weare Town Hall. The puppeteer, her puppet and many of the front-row guests were covered in silly string after a particularly funny act. Camp Wannaread, a summer-long reading program sponsored by the Weare Public Library and the Children's Librarians of New Hampshire, served 180 children in Weare this year. (Nicholas Brown Photo)

Puppeteer Martha Dana hoisted a giant stuffed crocodile onto her shoulders and introduced it to about 60 children gathered at the Weare Town Hall.

"This is my dog," she told them.

Mass protest ensued.

"That's an alligator," some cried. Others blurted through laughter, "That's not a dog, it's a crocodile!"

What the children knew is that the stuffed animal bore more likeness to a crocodile than to a dog. But they may not have known that they were being conned. They'd been roped into the absolute belief that the stuffed animal was a real crocodile.

During the skit, Dana pulled different food items out of the bag, and tried them on her "dog." The alligator-imposter rejected each in turn until finally admitting that its hunger was for human flesh.

Shrieks of mock terror and playful delight filled the town hall chambers as Dana, leading with the open jaws of the five-foot stuffed crocodile, chased the children.

The puppeteer had tapped into a deep well of imagination, that which only members of the pre-middle school crowd seem to possess. It's that same imagination that delights in reading, in allowing the inanimate to spring to life.

Dana's performance on Thursday, July 28, which also made real an orangutan, a unicorn and a black bear, was the culminating event of Camp Wannaread, sponsored by the Weare Public Library and the Children's Librarians of New Hampshire.

The summertime camp introduced and enhanced the joys of reading for the 180 Weare children who participated.

This year's theme was nature and the outdoors.

The ninth consecutive summer reading program run by the library, Camp Wannaread was the largest yet.

"This town has a lot of young families, and they give us such strong support," said Christine Hague, head librarian. "It's a program that so many people enjoy, and it's grown continuously."

Before Dana's performance, Hague addressed the campers, ranging from 2-year-olds to sixth-graders.

"You have done such a great job with the summer reading program," she said. "I want you all to come back to the library and visit in August."

Cora Jo Ciampi, who directs the library's summer reading programs, pointed to the success of Camp Wannaread and said, "180 kids read, and read, and read, and read; and they're still reading."

Indeed, well after Dana's performance had ended, imaginations were still active.

"I told (Dana) it was a crocodile," said 7-year-old Seth Piescik "She didn't know."