SYCAMORE – As a reward for reading more than 4,000 books in the past two months, kids at the Land of Learning Child Care Center in Sycamore spent Monday morning listening to two former Northern Illinois University football players read stories.

Former quarterback Chandler Harnish and former tight end Adam Kiel read to children who are not in kindergarten yet, many of whom wore NIU jerseys and T-shirts.

Chelon Benson, one of the center’s directors, said the goal was to read 3,000 books during March and April for the Land of Learning Bookworms program.