Ah-choo! Sneezy the Snowman is cold, cold, cold, and he keeps doing things to warm up that cause him to melt. Did the children who attended “Winter Surprise!” at the Cops ‘n’ Kids Reading Room Jan. 14 know just what to do to build him up again and make him feel “just right”?

They sure did! Children ages three and up participated in a live-action, role-playing adventure as they discovered the surprise Sneezy needed with “Sneezy the Snowman” by Maureen Wright, a Pennsylvania author.

“It’s about kindness,” Beverly Bradley, president of Cops ‘n’ Kids Literacy Program of the Lehigh Valley, said, referring to the snowman melting and the kids putting him back together.

Guest reader Marty Moyle said the children’s quest was to make Sneezy feel just right – not too hot or too cold – and in the process at times shared bits of their clothing to warm him up, then suggested having ice cream to cool off.

A Cops ‘n’ Kids program called “Winter Surprise!” was part of the Just Born Quality Confections Reading Room Saturday Event Series at the Cops ‘n’ Kids Reading Room in the Northampton Community College Fowler Family Southside Center.

Liberty HS volunteers helped at the event, and Moyle is office manager of the Athletic Department at Moravian University, a longtime partner in the mission of Cops ‘n’ Kids to connect kids and the community through literacy.

“Marty has done a variety of storytelling with us for 10 years – she’s very creative,” Bradley said of Moyle’s involvement with Cops ‘n’ Kids.

Four Liberty students thoroughly enjoyed their morning of volunteering: seniors Katy Borneman, Emma Lisson, Gabby Reyes and junior Alex Braxtone.

Borneman is co-president of the Cops ‘n’ Kids Club at Liberty. “I like working with Beverly and sharing and giving back. I’ve learned so much about what it means to give back and grown a lot,” Borneman said.

“I love serving back to the community, and the kids love the events,” Lisson said.

“I’ve volunteered at the hospital since my freshman year, and this exposes me to a different age group and community of people,” Reyes said. “This is my first time here. Everybody enjoys being together, and this provides an experience that maybe not a lot of people knew about beforehand.”

Braxtone shared in the enthusiasm, adding, “I love spending time with little kids.”

“These are volunteers extraordinaire,” Bradley said. “The important thing is showing them as role models.”

The morning included crafts – children making scarves that tie into the “Sneezy the Snowman” story – as well as children making thank-you cards for Moyle. Each child received a scarf, mittens and headband made by a volunteer. In addition, children were gifted with five free books, as they are at every Cops ‘n’ Kids event.

Cops ‘n’ Kids has distributed a total of 1,168,195 books as of Dec. 31, 2022, including the 59,859 books distributed in 2022. Approximately 26,540 individuals were served in 2022.

For more information on Cops ‘n’ Kids visit http://www.copsnkidslv.org.