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Reading with a Ranger

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Children and families are invited to explore their unique selves, their neighborhoods and their country through children’s literature and a group discussion led each weekend by a park ranger at Gateway Arch National Park.

Museum at the Gateway Arch

Gateway Arch National Park in partnership with Gateway Arch Park Foundation and Great Southern Bank’s Community Matters Program are thrilled to announce a new literacy program: Reading with a Ranger.

WHEN:
10 a.m., Saturdays, June 4, 11, 18, 25
1 p.m., Sundays, June 5, 12, 19, 26
WHERE: Education Room, Museum at the Gateway Arch
COST: Free to attend, but registration is required.
PARKING: Arch preferred parking is available through Stadium East Garage for a discounted rate of $9 (for the first five hours) upon validation inside the Arch. Pre-purchasing is highly recommended, especially on St. Louis Cardinals homegame days, otherwise day-of parking rates apply and tickets cannot be validated.
ACCOMMODATIONS REQUEST: If you would like to request ASL interpretation services or other reasonable accommodations for a disability, please contact Melissa Henderson of the National Park Service at Melissa_Corsaut@nps.gov as least two weeks in advance of the session you are interested in attending.

Made possible through funding from Great Southern Bank, Reading with a Ranger invites children and families to visit Gateway Arch National Park in June to receive a copy of a meaningful, themed children’s book, read it together with a park ranger, engage in a group discussion, and then do an activity connecting the book to the national park.

Reading with a Ranger will be offered every Saturday (10 a.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) during the month of June. The start times allow for a few minutes to get through national park security; the book reading will begin 15 minutes past the hour.

The program is designed to be sequential but also allows for one-off attendance, with each weekend encompassing a different theme:

  • Week 1, June 4-5: Marvelous Me
  • Week 2, June 11-12: Belonging
  • Week 3, June 18-19: Neighborhoods
  • Week 4, June 25-26: America

A parent or guardian must accompany every child; no drop-offs are allowed. The program will last approximately one hour. One book copy allocated per family. Session registration limited to the first 20 children signed up.

The program curriculum was developed in partnership with We Stories, a St. Louis nonprofit that uses the power of children’s literature to inspire conversation and change, helping families strengthen or begin discussions about race and racism and pursue action to create more inclusive communities.

Register Here

About the Books

Week 1: Marvelous Me

All Because You Matter by Tami Charles and Bryan Collier (birth to teen) (for ages 6-8)

A lyrical, heart-lifting love letter to Black and brown children everywhere: reminding them how much they matter, that they have always mattered, and they always will, from powerhouse rising star author Tami Charles and esteemed, award-winning illustrator Bryan Collier.

Week 2: Belonging

Fatima’s Great Outdoors (Indian – first camping trip) by Ambreen Tariq and Stevie Lewis (ages 4-8)

An immigrant family embarks on their first camping trip in the Midwest in this lively picture book by Ambreen Tariq, outdoors activist and founder of @BrownPeopleCamping Fatima Khazi is excited for the weekend. Her family is headed to a local state park for their first camping trip! The school week might not have gone as planned, but outdoors, Fatima can achieve anything. She sets up a tent with her father, builds a fire with her mother, and survives an eight-legged mutant spider (a daddy longlegs with an impressive shadow) with her sister. At the end of an adventurous day, the family snuggles inside one big tent, serenaded by the sounds of the forest. The thought of leaving the magic of the outdoors tugs at Fatima's heart, but her sister reminds her that they can keep the memory alive through stories--and they can always daydream about what their next camping trip will look like.

Ambreen Tariq's picture book debut, with cheerful illustrations by Stevie Lewis, is a rollicking family adventure, a love letter to the outdoors, and a reminder that public land belongs to all of us.

Week 3: Neighborhoods

My Papi Has a Motorcycle (immigration, father/daughter) by Isabel Quintero (ages 4-8)

A celebration of the love between a father and daughter, and of a vibrant immigrant neighborhood, by an award-winning author and illustrator duo.

When Daisy Ramona zooms around her neighborhood with her papi on his motorcycle, she sees the people and places she's always known. She also sees a community that is rapidly
changing around her. But as the sun sets purple-blue-gold behind Daisy Ramona and her papi, she knows that the love she feels will always be there.

With vivid illustrations and text bursting with heart, My Papi Has a Motorcycle is a young girl's love letter to her hardworking dad and to memories of home that we hold close in the
midst of change.

Week 4: America

Apple Pie Fourth of July (Chinese American) by Janet S. Wong (ages 4-7)

Shocked that her parents are cooking Chinese food to sell in the family store on an all-American holiday, a feisty Chinese American girl tries to tell her mother and father how things really are. But as the parade passes by and fireworks light the sky, she learns a surprising lesson.

Produced by

Gateway Arch Park Foundation
National Park Service