Oakland's kids are invited to take a walk on the wild side this summer by taking part in Oakland Public Library's free annual Summer Reading Program. This year's theme is Go Wild with Books, and naturally our librarians have lined up some wild animals and even wilder entertainers to get Oakland's youngest readers into the library and into books this summer.

Participants earn prizes for reading anything they like, and young children can participate by having a more experienced reader read to them. All children, ages 13 and under, are invited to stop by their neighborhood library or bookmobile to sign up and start reading their way to valuable prizes like safari notebooks, jungle pencils, books, food coupons for McDonalds and Round Table Pizza, as well as free admission tickets to the Oakland Museum of California, Lawrence Hall of Science, Children's Fairyland and Oakland Ice Center. Qualify for a raffle to win tickets to Six Flags Marine World, Paramount's Great America, Oakland A's baseball games, Alameda/Oakland Ferry, the Grand Lake Theater, and more.

To add to the excitement, our wild, wonderful Summer Reading Program activities include magic shows, puppet shows, clowns, jugglers, visits from live wild animals, musical and dance performances, craft activities, and more. Visit our Web site ( www.oaklandlibrary.org ) or your neighborhood library for performance schedules.

This year, Oakland Public Library is pleased to announce it has received a generous grant from the Stocker Foundation for the Summer Reading Program that will allow us to offer family literacy workshops and expand our prizes to encourage more participants. More details about the literacy workshops will be announced later.

Besides the Stocker Foundation, major sponsors of the Oakland Public Library Summer Reading Program include the Friends of the Oakland Public Library and the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation.

Other partners include: Round Table Pizza, Children's Fairyland, Lawrence Hall of Science, Oakland Ice Center, McDonalds Oakland, Alameda / Oakland Ferry Services, Paramount's Great America, Oakland Museum of California, Oakland A's Baseball Team, Hometown Buffet, Six Flags Marine World, the Grand Lake Theater, the Oakland Zoo, Chabot Space & Science Center, and MOCHA.

For more information, please contact your nearest Oakland Public Library or call (510) 238-3615. You can also visit the Library's Web site at www.oaklandlibrary.org. The Oakland Public Library is a department of the City of Oakland.