A Movement Heard Around the World...

Yesterday over 750 cities celebrated World Read Aloud Day! Photos are pouring in from around the world and we're sharing them all on our Facebook page. If you haven't already, make sure to tell us how you celebrated and email photos and videos from your special day to wrad(at)litworld.org.

LitWorld's celebration in New York City made headlines. We held our morning event at the Scholastic Store and were joined by author R.L. Stine who read to us from his new book. Then we headed to the Jefferson Market branch of the New York Public Library for an evening of reading fun. NYC Police Commissioner William J. Bratton and author Jacquline Woodson were our special guests. Before treating our LitClub families and friends to a read aloud, Commissioner Bratton and LitWorld's Founder, Pam Allyn, held a press conference. They talked about the importance of reading aloud from an early age to close the word gap; the importance of men as reading role models; and Commissioner Bratton told the story of the read aloud that changed his life. 

World Read Aloud Day Is Here

Raise your voice today for every child's right to read.

Help us bring access to stories and the power of reading to children everywhere. Here's what you can do:

Read aloud to a child, a cherished elder, or a colleague today! 
 
Post Pam Allyn's latest Huffington Post piece, Read Aloud. Change the World. on social media to spread the word.
 
Share photos and videos from your day with LitWorld.

World Read Aloud Day Makes Headlines

Tomorrow is the fifth annual celebration of World Read Aloud Day. Our global movement is making headlines. Our founder, Pam Allyn, is featured on the front page of the Huffinton Post today with her piece, "Read Aloud. Change the World." Read the full story here.

In addition, Pam will be interviewed by NBC News New York at 7pm EST this evening. Check your local listings and tune in.

Finally, we are overjoyed to announce details of our New York City World Read Aloud Day event. We are joined this year by an extraordinary group of partners and individuals. It wouldn't be World Read Aloud Day without Scholastic, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Gray Line New York. Our evening event at the Jefferson Market branch of the New York Public Library will feature read alouds from author Jacqueline Woodson and NYC Police Commissioner William Bratton. All of this comes on the heels of a morning event (closed to the public) at the Scholastic store where R.L. Stine will read aloud to a lucky group of students & LitClub members! We thank Gray Line New York for generously providing a double decker bus to transport our LitClub families to our event. Read the full press release here.

A Global Movement Powered by the Mighty Read Aloud

World Read Aloud Day is less than a week away. Today LitWorld's Founder and Global Ambassador for Scholastic's the Read Every Day. Lead A Better Life campaign, Pam Allyn, is featured on the Scholastic On Our Minds blog. Read her piece to learn how you can join the World Read Aloud Day movement and make a difference in your own community on March 5th.

"March 5th is LitWorld's fifth annual World Read Aloud Day celebration. What moves me the most about this day is how it all began: with a 7-year-old boy's wish to share his new found discovery of the magic of the read aloud with every child in the world. He wanted to make sure that his global brothers and sisters could experience the gift and magic of story. Today we have grown this wish into a global reading rally that motivates over one million people to spend the day connecting with one another through shared words."

Read the full piece here.

Sharing LitWorld's Model for Transformational Literacy at the World Literacy Summit

LitWorld's Story21 Project Manager, Jennifer Estrada, is a featured speaker at the 2014 World Literacy Summit in April which is held in Oxford, United Kingdom. Jennifer's keynote, "Bridging the Digital Divide for Lifelong Literacy," will share LitWorld's LitClub model for social-emotional literacy learning.

Jennifer was recently interviewed by the World Literacy Summit to discuss her work and experiences around literacy and its power to transform. An excerpt from her interview follows, read the full interview here. 

"I love stories, storybooks, storytelling and the power they have to connect humans and overcome differences. I have found that when all else fails to allow for mutual understanding, a well-chosen story can do just the trick. To enter into a story is to actively see the world from another’s perspective, from the perspective of the characters, the perspective of people in the story’s point in time or circumstance. Stories allow for incredibly joyful moments of empathy and compassion, exploration and comprehension. They break down barriers by creating common language and shared experiences, because the experience of the right story in the right moment can be as meaningful as one from your own life."

A World That Reads Together Creates Joyful Change Together

On March 5th we will link our voices together for World Read Aloud Day. Here's how you can celebrate:

1. Connect: Read aloud over video chat with someone who lives far away. Start a meeting at the office with an inspiring passage from a favorite book. Use Skype in the classroom to schedule an author to read aloud to your students.

2. Take the challenge: Ignite your reading life with the World Read Aloud Day Reading Minutes Challenge. Every minute you read will help us bring LitClubs and LitCamps to more children around the world.

3. Invite others into the movement: Join our wonderful WRADvocate Ambassadors and WRAD Partners in rallying the world to read aloud on March 5th. Download and use the WRAD banner and share the movement with as many people as you can.

The World Read Aloud Day 2014 Banner Is Here!

Use your Facebook profile page to spread the word about World Read Aloud Day. Click here to download the World Read Aloud Day banner and tell your friends and followers to do the same! Don't forget to Register for World Read Aloud Day so that we can add your special celebration to our WRAD map.