Dexter and his school have this year been part of Bulldogs Read, a program exclusive to Ballarat that is delivered by Ballarat Libraries in partnership with the Western Bulldogs.
Pupils had book chats with AFL players such as Caleb Daniel, Josh Dunkley and skipper Marcus Bontempelli. Participants also had the chance to go to AFL games as part of the program.
Dexter, who is more a basketball fan, said the chance to give reading another go had made a big difference to his school work - and it was especially handy to get into good habits and skills before starting high school next year.
"The program has actually helped improve my reading and I've got to try new books," Dexter said. "I've started to love reading. I've actually figured out new things about books I like. Some have so much good detail."
Canadian Lead has been part of the Bulldogs-led literacy program from the start in 2016.
An Australian Catholic University study released this year found incorporating 30 minutes of reading for pleasure into primary school classes each day can improve academic performance.
ACU Associate Professor Laura Scholes told The Courier reading for fun tended to get lost in the modern crammed curriculum. She urged teachers and parents to model good reading practice by talking about plots and characters they like or do not like with children.
Bulldogs Read encourages children to submit book reviews to a shared website with other pupils.
This is where Dexter's efforts earned him the major Bulldogs prize pack for this year.
Participating schools had a visit from Australian author Andrew McDonald, who writes the Real Pigeons books, during Children's Book Week. McDonald shared the types of books he had liked to read and write when he was at school.
But Dexter's favourite author this year has been veteran Morris Gleitzman, for his humour.
For those who might be thinking about joining the program, Dexter's advice was go for it: "it's pretty fun and you get rewarded for reading".
Bulldogs Read is among a suite of Western Bulldogs Community Foundation programs in Ballarat.
Other programs include men's holistic health campaign Sons of the West, sister program Daughters of the West, a youth leadership project and, for the first time this year, youth Indigenous initiative Nallei Jerring.
Western Bulldogs also last month launched a Women in Business lunch with senior female sports industry leaders ahead of the AFLW Pride home game at Mars Stadium. The club was keen to build on this success next year.
The inaugural lunch featured Ballarat export Belinda Duarte, the Culture is Life chief executive officer and Bulldogs board member, who is part of the 2026 Commonwealth Games organising committee.
Olympic swimmer and AFL women's football boss Nicole Livingstone and long-time women's football champion Debbie Lee were also guest speakers.
For book reviews: bulldogsread.com.au.
The Western Bulldogs acknowledges funding support from the Victorian Government, which provides for Sport Development and Community Engagement programs in Ballarat.
