Presents from prison: How Manitoba inmates are able to read stories to their kids [Video]

Paige Woodford burrows into the corner of a couch and studies the colourful pages of the kids’ picture book All That I Can Be, listening to her dad read the Mercer Mayer classic about growing up and dreaming big.

The 11-year-old mouths the words but sits alone until her mom, Danika Letander, nestles in next to her. Together they listen to the deep voice of Kyle Woodford play from a recording.

It’s the only way Woodford can read to Paige, or any of the couple’s blended family of eight kids. His home at the moment is a prison cell inside Headingley Correctional Centre west of Winnipeg.

“It gets hard at times, because they cry and they get really fussy, and it’s only me,” Letander said about the kids, whose ages range from three to 15.

Woodford was arrested in Marchand is awaiting trial, though no date has been set. Letander has no idea how long she’ll be on her …