The third annual “Love and Literacy: Magic Happens with Reading” event in downtown Fresno on Saturday will include encouraging parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing to boost their child’s literacy through reading.

About 15 to 30 families typically are swerved by the annual literacy event, said Candice Goodie, a part-time client service specialist at the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service Center.

Getting parents more involved in reading to their kids is this year’s main goal, Goodie said. While staffers have engaged in reading to children in prior years, Goodie said she noticed that the parents tend to hang back.

That’s likely because only a small percentage of parents learn American Sign Language and can read books to their kids using ASL, she said.

“Most of the time when a deaf child is in school and then they go home, parents don’t know how to communicate with them at home for homework or reading because they don’t know sign language,” Goodie said. “It’s a struggle for them to communicate.”

As a result, a lot of deaf and hard-of-hearing children grow up not enjoying reading, she said.

“We want them to enjoy reading, to love reading books, and to feel motivated and excited and looking forward to reading,” Goodie said.

The four-hour event on Saturday will begin at 10 am. and be held in the fellowship hall at First Presbyterian Church, 1540 M St.

The event and parking are free. In addition to free books, there will be a magic show, food, and fun activities.