STORY time took on a whole new meaning at Ingleton Library when animal ranger, Laura Hart, joined the summer reading challenge with a selection of snails, snakes, spiders and even a cockroach.

ZooLab, a national animal handling experience company, aims to bring people closer to the natural world, and to stimulate an interest in science, nature and learning, and judging by the happy faces and wonderful reactions Laura enticed from the children, it certainly achieved its objectives.

Flat ‘pancake hands’ to hold the creatures and ‘magic fingers’ to touch were all part of the educational experience, and by the end of the session, there was hardly a child not brave enough to hold, or at least touch, the fascinating creatures, making the event a complete success.

The summer reading challenge ‘Mischief Makers’ runs until September 8.