CENTREVILLE &045; Children are having fun while learning some valuable life lessons in a six-week summer reading program sponsored by the Homochitto Valley Library Service.

On Wednesday, a dozen boys and girls gathered at Kevin Poole Van Cleave Memorial Library in Centreville to hear stories about going to the beach and swimming.

But first the group learned a few things about diabetes.

&uot;Who knows what diabetes is?&uot; asked Carol Bryant, a nurse practitioner and certified diabetic educator from Field Memorial Community Hospital in Centreville.

An excited youngster’s hand shot up.

&uot;My grandmother has it.

She can’t have sugar,&uot; he shouted.

Bryant, who also visits area schools to educate children about the dangers of diabetes, talked to the kids and handed them coloring books designed to help them with a basic understanding of

how the disease works.

&uot;Mississippi is leading the nation in diabetes, so early education is very important.

And kids are exposed to snack machines in schools from an early age, which doesn’t help, either,&uot; Bryant said afterward.

Later, the children’s attention turned to oceanside fantasies as Librarian Patricia Nall read from the children’s book, &uot;Harry by the Sea.&uot;

&uot;We want to keep children reading all summer, and hopefully teach them some important things, too,&uot; said program director Diane Willard, who followed Nall’s reading with a story that teaches swimming and water safety.

&uot;Swim buddies are cool, because they follow the rules,&uot; the group recited.

Willard and assistant Kathy King also coordinate the weekly programs at the Armstrong Library in Natchez and the Wilkinson County Library in Woodville.

&uot;We had 115 kids at Natchez yesterday,&uot; said Willard, who gets help from a variety of volunteers.

&uot;We had a policeman and a fireman come for Dr. Suess Day, and the kids just loved it,&uot; she said.

The program started in the first week of June and ends next week.