The Wally Cat Walking Story is a creative and engaging way to promote literacy, physical activity, and community involvement among children and families in Paris, KY. The Cooperative Extension office partnered with 11 local businesses to display one page of the story in each of their windows, creating a walking route for children to follow and read along. The story features Wally Cat, explores the town and learns about various topics including gardening, farm animals, and the Nutcraker. Each book is displayed for six weeks, and children who complete the walk can return a postcard evaluation to the extension office and receive a free book and a bag of activities related to the book theme.

The impact of this project has been positive and significant. So far, 36 families, which included 74 children, returned the evaluations, and all of them have expressed their satisfaction and appreciation for the initiative. They reported that they enjoyed the interaction with the merchants, the physical exercise, the family reading time, and the community support. They also said that they learned new things about their town and its heritage. The project has also increased the visibility and awareness of the Cooperative Extension office and its programs among the residents and businesses of Paris, KY. The Wally Cat Walking Story is a successful example of how Cooperative Extension can foster literacy, health, and civic engagement in a fun and innovative way.

One parent’s comment “When is the next Wally Cat Book Walk?  My boys can hardly wait!  We have so much fun walking through town reading and discussing the books.”