About BookPal Friends

Hello!  Thank you for your interest in BookPalFriends!  I have been a teacher for the past 26 years in grades Transitional Kindergarten through third grade.  I loved my teaching career and spending my days with children!  Helping children learn and working with families was my true calling.  

Throughout my career, I had a successful take-home reading program with books, a plush animal, and writing journal all centered around a central animal theme. My students would select their new backpack to take home on the weekends and would share their journal entry and some facts about the animal or book with their classmates.  My students were exposed to around 50 different animals, as well as various other book genres.  This program enhanced the student’s reading skills because it targeted all reading standards.  Students learned to illustrate, label parts of their illustration, orally share their journal entries, retell favorite parts of a story, share some animal facts, gain new vocabulary and so much more.

Since relocating to Texas from California, I decided that I wanted to share this program to homes across America, and because of this relocation, BookPal Friends was founded. 

My mission is to bring the love of reading to your home and to guide families with knowledge and skill to help develop the child’s reading development, as well as building your child’s love of books and reading.

I live in the Texas Hill Country with my husband Jim and our two dogs, Lucky (the  chubby Westie) and Dingo (our 18-year-old Rat Terrier.) We have four adult sons and one grandchild. 

 

Happy Reading!

"Teacher Christine" LoDestro
CEO and Founder, BookPal Friends