LEWISTON – Surrounded by 3- and 4-year-olds, Stephanie Hansen opened a book Tuesday and started reading “The Gingerbread Man.”

Hansen read about the little old man and woman who had no children. “That’s so sad,” she said in an animated voice.

She continued to read:

“The little old woman opened the oven door. Out jumped the gingerbread boy and he ran out of the little house.” Hansen asked, “Can everybody say, ‘Stop?'”

“Stop!” said her Hillview Head Start audience: Muktar, Jaymie, Abdiladif, Madison, Nuradin, Kaura, Ahmed, Omar, Savannah, Victor, Alivia and Isaac.

Similar scenes took place at 84 other locations Tuesday, the third annual “Read Across L-A” day. Adults volunteer to be guest readers at day-care centers, pre-schools and libraries.

The goal is to raise awareness in the communities, and especially among parents, that reading every day helps preschoolers get ready for kindergarten. The program’s logo is: “20 minutes a day, ready for K!”

One of the best predictors of a child’s success in school is reading readiness.

Hansen, a kindergarten teacher at Martel Elementary School, recommends parents and caregivers start reading long before children begin school. “It widens their imagination and gets them ready to read.”

Most of Tuesday’s guest readers were educators or day-care providers. Some were businesspeople and community leaders, including a newspaper editor, the head of a career center, library workers, the mayors of Lewiston and Auburn, city councilors and state legislators.

The “Read Across L-A” program is growing, said Eva Giles, assistant director of Lewiston Adult Education, one of the groups coordinating the day. The number of readers grew from 73 last year to 85 this year.

The program is sponsored by Lewiston and Auburn school departments, the libraries and the adult education programs.

Adult education is involved to share with adult students the benefits of reading to youngsters. “Some of the best ways of educating the youth is through the family, especially the moms,” Giles said.