What's better than a book? A big handful of them!

Books everywhere, as far as the eye could see -- piled on the floor, in boxes, tightly clutched in the hands of hundreds -- thousands, actually -- of eager Racine kids.

This was the scene at Merchants Moving and Storage warehouse Saturday as Cops N Kids and the State Street Civic Association -- assisted by more volunteers than you could count from all over the community -- handed out some 40,000 books. There was no assigned reading; each child filled a bag with as many books as would fit ... and just the books he or she wanted.

This is the seventh year Julia Burney's dream has been fulfilled in such a massive way, as moms and dads escorted their kids to the age-appropriate stacks of books -- continually refreshed -- and helped them choose what they want. In between treats from Culver's, a visit to Santa's lap for a photo, arts and crafts projects, signatures from law enforcement personnel and more. But enough talk: Let's go right to the pictures.

Santa joins Merchants' Jim Eastman
and Cops N Kids' founder Julia Burney Witherspoon