PIERRE — The 10 young children who showed up to Rawlins Library’s weekly storytime event Tuesday were treated to a special treat — a visit from Winnie the Pooh.

Pooh — costumed Riggs freshman Michaela Stroup — danced to “I’m A Little Teapot” and exchanged high fives and handshakes with the assembled toddlers, who reacted with equal parts glee and terror to the large Pooh costume.

Then it was time for the main event: a series of Winnie the Pooh and Clifford the Big Red Dog stories read by Rawlins children’s librarian Pat Weeldreyer and a free storybook and plush toy for each child.

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“I thought it was great,” said mother Brandy Owens, who attended with her daughter Bailey, 1. “It gives kids time to focus and pay attention and learn something new.”

It was Owens’ first visit to a Rawlins storytime, but she said they would be back.

“She is young, so she was everywhere, but I think she enjoyed it,” Owens said.

Head librarian Beverly Lewis said the library’s storytime events are designed to instill young children with an appreciation for books.

“It introduces them to literature and to books and the pleasure they get when stories are read out loud,” Lewis said. “Kids become good readers initially by having stories read out loud to them. The goal is to make that introduction in a pleasant environment with classic literature.”

Rawlins Library hosts storytime events at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. every Tuesday and at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, where children sing songs, hear stories and take a free book home. But this week was unusual for the library with a special host and donated stuffed animals to give away.

“There’s no doubt about what having a host in the form of Clifford or the Cat in the Hat or Winnie does for drawing the attention of the parents,” Lewis said. “It will bring them into the library with their children and they get to participate in a very wonderful storytime.”

Bailey Boelke, 5, attended the storytime with her day care.

“It was really fun,” she said, beaming as she clutched her new stuffed Tigger after the event.

Skyla Nicholas, who runs Boelke’s day care, said she takes her children to storytime at Rawlins every week.

“The kids love it and they love the songs that go with it. They learn to love books,” she said. “This is the first time they’ve offered a stuffed animal with the books, so it’s awesome that they did this.”

Weeldreyer, the children’s librarian, said she loves helping spread a love of books among the young children.

“I like watching the kids when we read something really interesting,” she said. “Their eyes just light up.”