July 19 was a day of firsts at the Dartmouth Mall: the mall hosted its first live children’s book reading, and Westport author and illustrator Jill Buffington read her book aloud for the very first time. 

“It’s so awesome, it was really exciting to see them light up,” Buffington said. “The characters seemed to resonate with them.”

Beth Zager, marketing director for the mall, organized the readings, which will take place every Wednesday until August 9. 

“Anything for the kids to do during the summer,” Zager said about why they started hosting the readings. 

Buffington read through her book “Your dreams are who you are!”, which is part of her “Jubi” book series. The four books in the series were only published a month ago. 

The books are technically for kids ages 3 to 8, but most kids at the reading were younger. 

“It’s good to start reading at a little bit higher level to children because they will absorb some of it,” Buffington said. 

Buffington read through her book page by page, but took breaks to answer questions and engage with kids on topics presented in the book. For instance, the book contains a reference to being “centered,” which prompted Buffington to explain what centered means to the crowd. 

Briana Sheppard brought her daughter Stella to the reading, and said she liked that the book was “very child friendly,” as opposed to some other children’s books that involve complicated stories that can be harder to grasp. Sheppard, who is an early childhood educator, said she really appreciated that the mall put on the event. 

The readings take place at 11 a.m. in the center of the mall.