LF_020719

LakeForestLeader.com LIFE & ARTS
the lake forest leader | February 7, 2019 | 21
Lit League instills positive reading experience for children
Alyssa Groh, Editor
Two Lake Forest moms
are taking reading to a
new level with a fun and
engaging subscription
book club box designed
for students.
Cecelia Gottman and
Lauren Fairchild grew
up together and are now
raising their children in
Lake Forest. As an educator
for more than 15
years, it was important
for Fairchild to watch
her children have positive
learning experiences.
Fairchild and Gottman
have daughters who are
the same age, and four
years ago they decided to
start a book club for their
daughters. Gottman said
her daughter was never
very interested in reading
until she and Fairchild
started the book club.
“I have been an educator
for over 15 years
and taught mostly high
school and more recently
middle school. When I
had my own children, I
started getting worried
about their experiences as
readers,” Fairchild said.
“Once they were in the
school system, I became
more concerned that they
would always be having
positive experiences as
readers. As a teacher of
older children, there are
a ton of kids who by the
time they get to me, they
just didn’t enjoy reading
very much.”
In an effort to stop the
cycle and get her students
excited about reading,
Fairchild did research
and talked to her students
about what would make
reading more enjoyable.
And after creating a
fun mini book club for
their daughters — who
now enjoy reading — the
duo knew they were onto
something and took it a
step further.
“After doing the book
club with our daughters
for a while, we realized
we had maybe stumbled
on something others may
like help facilitating for
their children,” Fairchild
said.
The duo watched as
their daughters became
more engaged with reading
and realized they
could help other students
and their parents enjoy
reading with the start of
their new business — Lit
League.
Lit League, which officially
launched on Jan.
27, is a subscription book
club in a box service for
kids ages 3-9. Each box is
designed by educators and
contains a book, a customized
bookmark, kidfriendly
activities/projects
and/or costumes based on
the book.
“Lit League is a onestop
shop,” Fairchild said.
“Lit League gives parents
all of the tools they might
need to run this fun book
club experience. It is an
easy way for children and
adults to engage with the
books.”
The boxes are designed
for a variety of difficulty
levels and parents can
choose between picture
books and chapter books.
Each box is put together
by a group of educators
who have researched the
books and picked from
a list of award-winning
books.
“We wanted to make
sure there were a good
mix of classics and books
that are more modern,”
Fairchild said. “There is
a good mix of difficulty
Lauren Fairchild (left) and Cecelia Gottman, of Lake Forest, launched their new business, Lit League Jan. 27 at
Sage Explorers in Lake Forest. Lit League is a subscription book box used to encourage reading among children.
Photos Submitted
level. ... The boxes contain
high interest books
that even reluctant readers
will be happy to read.”
And while the idea for
Lit League is to provide
a positive reading experience
for students, Lit
League will also give
back to a local charity.
“Our mission is to design
experiences that will
help foster a lifelong love
of reading and a portion
of our proceeds will be
donated to Bernie’s Book
Bank,” Gottman said.
For more information
on Lit League and to sign
up for a subscription box,
visit www.litleagueboxes.
com.
RIGHT: Elliot (left) and
Eloise Fairchild read a
picture book.