A cute and very polite panda asks the other animals he comes across if they would like a doughnut.

A canny canine finds himself in a colorful dream about numbers and must calculate a way out.

An exasperated mother sends her boisterous children outside, but their games take them further than she could have imagined.

And it’s the title of that last story — “Play Outside!” by Laurent Moreau — that summarizes especially well the goal of StoryWalk, a new program from the Jefferson County Library that combines the reading of engaging children’s books with the benefits of walking outdoors while encouraging fun family togetherness.

“This is a pretty exciting project,” said Chris HoffmanHill, the library’s public services manager. “You’re just reading the book together as you walk along.”

Six selected children’s books have been presented via 21 sequential display boards, each about 10 paces from the last, spread along three walking paths with the intent that families can enjoy reading and walking simultaneously, thus improving the comprehension abilities of youngsters and everyone’s health and mood by getting outside.

“There’s a story as you walk out and then you can turn around and read another story on your way back,” HoffmanHill said of the two-sided signs.

Though it seems a perfect pandemic-era compromise and combination, HoffmanHill said the StoryWalk plans had long been in the works.

“We’ve been wanting to do this for a long time,” she said. “It was just a matter of figuring out what’s a durable way to put them up. And there’s a library in Spokane and I think the Timberland library system also, they got the idea to use these real estate signs and they are durable.”

Six stories have been installed along three paths: Jefferson County Library (620 Cedar Ave., in Port Hadlock); Brinnon Elementary School (46 Schoolhouse Road, in Brinnon); and HJ Carroll Park (9884 Highway 19, in Chimacum).

The initial selection of books are: “Please, Mr. Panda / Por favor, Sr. Panda” by Steve Antony, “Smart George” by Jules Feiffer, “Petra” by Marianna Coppo, “Play Outside!” by Laurent Moreau, “Duck on a Bike” by David Shannon, and “The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!” by Mo Willems.

However, HoffmanHill said the plan is to ultimately rotate stories amidst the locations and eventually add more books to the roster.

“What’s nice about it is we can create a library of stories,” she said. “If somebody else thinks it’s a great idea and they want to fund another StoryWalk they can help us buy the materials and they we just pop them in.”

The signage itself has reportedly proven the biggest cost of the program and the most obvious barrier to its expansion.

“We’re hoping to create a library so we can change them out and keep it lively and interesting for kids,” HoffmanHill said.

The initial batch of stories was chosen specifically for their emphasis on imagination and interaction.

“We’re really excited we were able to put it together,” HoffmanHill said. “And we tried to spread it out throughout the county, too.”

Visit www.jclibrary.info to learn more about the library’s various services and programs.