GAINESVILLE — Annabelle Miller, 10, looks up from the book she’s reading aloud at the Blackshear Place library to check on her audience of one — and Keeper is still there, panting with his tongue hanging out of his furry black face.

Annabelle was one of several children who participated in the library’s Doggy Tales program in September, where owners of two certified therapy dogs from Therapy Dogs International brought their pets to the library to provide an audience for young readers.

"I wanted to come here to read out loud to a cute dog, and I’ve never read to a dog before," Annabelle said.

But the home-schooled fifth-grader got her chance to read to Keeper, a 144-pound Newfoundland, when her mother signed her up for a 15-minute reading slot at the library one afternoon last month.

"He’s really cute," Annabelle said. "He looks almost like a big teddy bear with a big tongue."

Keeper’s owner, Oakwood resident Carole Morres, said the interaction between dogs and children creates a calming environment where kids feel comfortable reading out loud. Doggy Tales is the first reading program in which her big furry pet has participated, but Morres said she would like to implement the program into Hall County elementary schools.

Doggy Tales is still a very new program for the Hall County library system, and has taken place only a couple of times this year. The next Doggy Tales reading program will take place at 3 p.m. Monday. Parents can sign children up prior to the event for a limited number of 15-minute reading sessions.

"The reading program is a phenomenal concept because children in the classroom are intimidated for whatever reason, but reading to animals is less pressure and calming," she said. "If they’re shy, there’s no threat ... because classmates aren’t going to be snickering if they mispronounce a word."

Annabelle, an avid reader, said she wasn’t always great at reading out loud.

"At first I stunk at reading out loud," she said. "In kindergarten I would read out loud and I was excited at first, but then I saw everyone looking at me and I begged my teacher not to make me do it — there was a lot of people, and I was afraid."

Yet Annabelle said that with practice, she’s gotten more comfortable reading to other people.

Mary Ann Albrecht, who brought her basset hound Ginger to Doggy Tales, was a teacher in Cobb County for many years and taught hundreds of elementary school children over her career.

"The main thing we can do is to give our children a good education, and that starts in reading and math," she said.

Albrecht said the Doggy Tales program helps foster great reading practice, and the attraction children have to her dog is mutual.

"Ginger has always loved children," she said. "Without this leash, she would wander off with any child."

Joy Romano, 9, is home-schooled with her two siblings and read a story to Ginger about a family coming to the New World. She said Albrecht helped her pronounce words she didn’t know.

Even though Joy doesn’t have a classroom full of students with which to contend, she does have a big brother.

"I like to read aloud a lot, but my brother usually tells me to be quiet and I have to go into another room," she said.

Joy’s mother, Pam Romano, homeschools her three children and signed them up for Doggy Tales.

"I want to get them used to reading out loud," she said. "Even if it’s a dog, it’s still an audience."

Pam Romano’s son, Ryan, 11, said he really enjoyed reading to Keeper, and would have liked even more time to finish reading a whole chapter.

"He was kind of maybe paying attention. Maybe he was understanding a little," he said. "It was adorable how he was slobbering ... It was really cute."