The executives behind LitWorld and Scholastic will partner together to host a World Read Aloud Day celebration. This literacy event is scheduled to take place on February 24. On that day, the cast of Broadway’s School of Rock—The Musical will perform readings and give away free books after the 2:00 p.m. matinee show.
Before the official date, Pam Allyn and Donalyn Miller will participate in a Twitter chat on February 18. All throughout this month, the organizers will hand out World Read Aloud kits at more than 1,000 Scholastic Book Fairs. Soon, a bundle of World Read Aloud Day 2016 resources will be made available as a free download.
Here’s more from the press release: “Research shows that reading aloud to children every day is proven to put them almost a year ahead of children who are not read to, regardless of parental income, education level or cultural background. In addition, the Kids & Family Reading Report found that 83% of kids ages 6–17 say they love or loved being read aloud to. Yet nearly one in four parents stop reading aloud to their children by the age of 9 and 40% of kids ages 6–11 wish their parents had continued reading aloud. Now in its seventh year, World Read Aloud Day is designed to encourage everyone to keep reading aloud at any age.”