Adorable tots oinking, stomping and pounding their chest doesn't seem like the makings of a literacy initiative.

But there's a method behind the new "multisensory" madness being offered this summer at three Charlotte Mecklenburg Library branches.

Called "Talking Stories," it's a well-disguised effort to identify toddlers with early signs of delayed speech and language development.

A session Wednesday at the West Boulevard Branch did this by mixing storytelling, recorded animal sounds and a pretend trip to the beach with buckets of real sand and sea shells.

The idea, say organizers, is to let toddlers react to the sights, sounds and feels associated with language. And in doing so, identify any problems they might face with speech or hearing.

Talking Stories is considered innovative on multiple levels, including that it partners the library with a health care charity.

Shannon Tucker of Charlotte Speech & Hearing came up with the idea as a way for concerned parents to get advice, including a free speech-language screening for their kids.

Tucker's agency is both directing and paying for the program, which aims to help children from low-income areas be more prepared for kindergarten.

"All they have to do is show up," she says. "We're introducing these children to language and pre-reading skills, while showing parents stuff they can do at home without a lot of fancy equipment."

The program started June 15 and runs through Aug. 10 at the West Boulevard, Scaleybark and Beatties Ford branches.

At least one child at the Wednesday session showed signs of needing help. Overall, about half the children at three previous sessions required services.

About 900 of the 12,000 children starting kindergarten in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools this fall will have a speech-language issue.

Library officials say the partnership supports a new goal to have 25 percent of the system's programs directed by volunteers.