Tin Tin has won over the hearts of children at Gonville Library in Whanganui

Natasha reading to Tin Tin at Gonville Library, with his owner Julie Matheson.

Tin Tin, a jack russell, with his owner Julie Matheson, has won over the hearts of children at Gonville Library, where they read books to him to gain confidence in their reading.

Julie and Tin Tin belong to Canine Friends Pet Therapy in Whanganui, a New Zealand-wide group for dogs to help people in all sorts of ways, such as rest home and hospice visits.

They used to visit Springvale Manor, but this involved quite a bit of walking and lifting Tin Tin. On a recent visit to the Davis Library, the whole group from Canine Friends Pet Therapy spent some time with the kids, and Julie really liked it.

Gonville Library and Café.

Since then Julie and Tin Tin are on a trial at Gonville Library, with support from Kat Schroyens, library frontline services coordinator.

“Kat has been quite supportive,” said Hannah Li, of Canine Friends Pet Therapy.

“She set up a fortnightly Canine Friend reading buddy for Tin Tin to come in between 3.30pm and 4.30pm. This is ideal for kids who want to read to a dog, to improve their reading skills. It’s an icebreaker to relax them. Sometimes kids are not connected in their reading, and they can be too scared to read in front of their peer group at school.

“The idea of having dogs is that they won’t judge. The dog listens to all the wonderful stories. Any reading age, even adults, can read to Tin Tin, and have a fun experience,” said Hannah.

“Tin Tin loves people,” said Julie. “He’s a very gentle dog, he gets on well with them.”

■ More information is on the website www.caninefriends.org.nz.