Tomorrow, Thursday, October 6th, is Jumpstart’s annual Read for the Record literacy event. Millions of people all around the world are pledging that they will read this year’s chosen book, Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dowdney together all on the same day with children in their life or local area.
Jumpstart, working with the Pearson Foundation, started this campaign six years ago to call for an end to America’s early education achievement gap. “Millions of children in low-income neighborhoods are at risk of school failure before they even start kindergarten.” Jumpstart’s Read for the Record event acts as a world-recognized statement that we pledge to make time to read to children and make sure they get the quality early education that they deserve. Last year over two million people around the world read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats together, and this year we hope to break the world record again with 2.5 million!
Want to join in? Take the pledge online and tomorrow, read Llama Llama Red Pajama to young children in your area. Many of the staff here at The Carle are offering to do a Read for the Record storytime in their child’s classroom or at the local library. If you’re in the Amherst area tomorrow, you can even come to The Carle’s official Read for the Record Storytime and be counted in our pledge. At 11:00 am we’ll be reading Llama Llama Red Pajama in our Reading Library, followed by a special activity in the Art Studio. We have copies of the book for sale in our Shop, or if you’re in a pinch, you can find a free copy to read online here.
We hope you’ll join us, either here or in your local area, to be counted for this celebration of books and literacy. “Sit down to read. Stand up for children.”
Tags: Anna Dowdney, Jumpstart, Llama Llama Red Pajama, picture book, Read for the Record