COEUR d’ALENE — Something extraordinary happens when a child discovers a book.

Multiply that wonder by six and you get a glimpse of how the Jingle Books regional book drive delivers that magic right into the hands of students just before winter break.

It's the perfect time to snuggle up with a good book — or six.

"To see the looks on the faces of those kids as they run around with those books is really something," Jingle Books co-organizer Norm Gissel said Friday.

This is the sixth year for the Jingle Books drive, a community effort to collect new and gently used books for readers in kindergarten through third grade. Collection boxes can be found in every Coeur d'Alene School District school, in the district office at 1400 N. Northwood Center Court in Coeur d'Alene and in several local businesses and the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.

Since the program began, about 146,000 books have been distributed to children in Kootenai County.

"The generosity is just beyond belief," Gissel said. "This community is just wonderful."

Gissel said the goal this year is to collect 18,000 books to send every young reader home with six books of their choosing when they're distributed by North Idaho College wrestlers in mid-December. Right now, he said, about 8,000 books have been boxed and are ready to go, and another roughly 5,000 are waiting to be sorted.

Donations and volunteers are still needed to achieve the 18,000-book goal and to sort and distribute them in a few weeks. Books will be collected through Dec. 13.

"We're always in need of more books," Gissel said.

It's critical for kids to be comfortable reading by third grade because until that point, they're learning to read. Beyond third grade, they’re reading to learn. According to the Children's Reading Foundation, only one in three students is a proficient reader by that point.

"If we emphasize reading, pretty soon kids will be reading, and that will be a good thing," Gissel said. "(Jingle Books) is not so unique that it can't be replicated elsewhere."

Book-sorting volunteer opportunities will be available this weekend, Dec. 7 and 8, and Dec. 14 and 15 from 9 to 11 a.m. and/or 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Contact Jingle Books co-organizer Greta Gissel at [email protected] to share the date and time you would like to volunteer and the number of people you're bringing. Children should be at least 11 years old to sort. Sorting location: Lake City Plaza, 1621 N. Third St., Suite 700, Coeur d'Alene.

Info: 208-819-8345 or 208-964-4823