Nothing captures the essence of World Read Aloud Day better than our international partners and friends who have brought the spirit of this day to their corners of the globe!
We are so grateful to our international partners not only for bringing WRAD to their local communities, but for continuing to extend the joy of reading and the advocacy for literacy all year long by providing programs where young people can have a space to read, learn, and share stories together.
We also want to extend our gratitude to LitWorld friends around the world who organized beautiful celebrations! We love to see all the different ways in which each community chose to bring WRAD to life.
For 15 years, Lindsey Manwell has been at the heart of World Read Aloud Day™ with her vibrant illustrations. As we celebrate the 15th anniversary of WRAD, we’re thrilled to feature an exclusive interview with Lindsey, exploring her creative purpose, favorite illustrations from the past 15 years, and the enduring power of art in encouraging a love for reading.
Dear LitWorld Friend,
We are honored to have been invited to participate as a charity partner in this year’s United Airlines NYC Half, an annual race that attracts more than 24,000 runners, and is hosted by New York Road Runners.
At LitWorld, our mission is to strengthen kids and communities through the power of stories, a mission that aligns with New York Road Runners' vision to build healthier lives and stronger communities through the transformative power of running.
Are YOU interested in supporting LitWorld’s mission while meeting that New Year’s resolution? Let us help! We have 5 bibs available for serious runners ready to participate in the marathon and peer-to-peer fundraising on behalf of LitWorld.
It may be the holiday season, but here at LitWorld, we have our sights set on our favorite holiday of the year: World Read Aloud Day!
Mark your calendars for February 5th, 2025, and get ready to join thousands of people around the world as we collectively celebrate the power of stories.
LitWorld's Founder and Executive Director, Pam Allyn, was interviewed on HuffPost Live on World Read Aloud Day to discuss the issue of global literacy. Pam was also joined by Dr. Kelly Hunter, Executive Director of Children's Literacy Initiative, Mike Dawson, CEO of Paiwastoon and Tiffany Persons, Founder of Shine On Sierra Leone.
We captured many magical moments at P.S. 46 in Harlem today. Watch the footage below and get ready to watch our grand finale at Books of Wonder from 5-7pm EST this evening!
In honor of World Read Aloud Day, and to share profound insight into the state of literacy worldwide, Susan M. Blaustein, the Director of the Millennium Cities Initiative, wrote a powerful blog for the Huffington Post.
"In an early celebration last week of World Read Aloud Day in Kisumu, Kenya's third largest city, the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) and Kisumu public school teachers made the rounds of a number of primary schools where we now have Girls' LitClubs, thanks to the New York-based, literacy-focused non-profit LitWorld. As planned, schoolgirls all over Kisumu, including those in a school on the grounds of the local women's prison, recited prepared poems, read stories aloud and sang and danced, all to celebrate literacy.
What our team did not anticipate was the keen desire on the part of the women prisoners themselves to read aloud -- which they did, not just with their wardens' permission, but together with their wardens, page by page, story after story. As our merry troupe of teachers and development practitioners traipsed down the path to and from the prison and school bearing their colorful "World Read Aloud Day!" placards, a woman cooking and selling "chips" (fries) by the side of the road asked whether she, too, might have the chance to read. Our group, eager to get to their appointment on time inside the prison grounds, stopped on the way back so that the woman could read out loud to them."
Read the full article on the Huffington Post.
"Today is World Read Aloud Day. Before the day is over, hundreds of thousands of people will participate in one of the most precious shared human experiences.
Last week I delivered a keynote speech to an audience of educators titled "Creating a Worldwide Literacy Community." And today, by celebrating World Read Aloud Day, this worldwide literacy community is what we are building together.
When you read aloud today, you are standing up for every person's fundamental right to read. And while today many thousands of people join us in this advocacy, the change we create will happen because we are linking our voices together with many small moments, in local libraries, under a tree, in the car on the way home from school."
Read Pam's full article on the Huffington Post.
LitWorld's Founder and Executive Director Pam Allyn shared the history and the future of World Read Aloud Day with the New York Daily News. We dream of a worldwide literacy community and look forward to raising our voices with friends around the world tomorrow when World Read Aloud Day 2013 arrives.
"A wide-eyed, 7-year-old El Barrio boy who had never in his life heard a book read aloud to him provided the inspiration for World Read Aloud Day, the global literacy campaign that kicks off on Wednesday in Harlem.
The child was in a foster-care program when Pam Allyn opened up a copy of Maurice Sendak’s 1963 classic “Where the Wild Things Are,” and began to read about the adventures of a young boy named Max.
As Allyn tells the story, the child finally said, "I wish everybody could do this every day!"
This weekend LitWorld's Innovation Developer, Yaya Yuan, was a guest on NY1 News, Time Warner Cable's 24-hour newschannel in New York City witih a viewership of 2,100,000.
Yaya gave viewers a preview of the World Read Aloud Day celebration we have planned for Wednesday as well as LitWorld's mission which drives our work year round. Click here to watch the interview, and don't forget to register for World Read Aloud Day and let us know how you plan to Read It Forward on March 6.
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