Guest post by Kayla Aldrich, Read to Them staff
Be it around the dinner table, on a car ride, or cuddled up before bed, time spent reading aloud with your child is precious. These moments are deposits into a bank of good memories that will grow and pay dividends for years to come.
According to the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report, 87% of kids aged 6-7 “loved or liked read-aloud time.” So, an eagerness to spend time together is likely already present. By reading aloud from a book selected by your child, you can unlock a wealth of benefits.
Reading aloud not only nourishes a child’s imagination, but it is essential to expand their linguistic skills. For emerging scholars, reading aloud aids in increasing a child’s listening abilities, learning proper pronunciation, and associating words with pictures. Older readers can engage with more complicated plots which aid in increasing their reading comprehension skills. A child’s verbal lexicon is fairly extensive, and by hearing words spoken aloud while seeing them on the page, their visual vocabularies increase, too.
Above all else, reading aloud to your child strengthens the emotional bonds between the adult reader and the child. It’s an easy but no less profound way of spending time together, all while providing positive parent-child connections that are essential to a child’s psychological health and academic growth.
Life is more hectic than ever, especially with the first day of school approaching, but planting these seeds is easier than you may think:
Read to Them— a national nonprofit organization based in Richmond, Virginia— promotes literacy by offering school and home-based reading programs. Every year during the last week of October, Read to Them sponsors Read Aloud to a Child Week, a national event to showcase the importance of reading aloud to children and to encourage families to read together.
For over 20 years, Read Aloud to a Child Week has been a stress-free way to engage with the literacy community. Read to Them shares author videos, book lists, reading tips, and more. Participating in the event is truly as simple as selecting a book of your choice and reading aloud as a family.
The 2021 event will run from October 24 – 30th, which is right around the corner. Be sure to mark your calendar— you won’t want to miss it!
The Read Aloud to a Child Week 2021 theme is GRATITUDE. During this turbulent time, this theme encourages you to reflect on the positive parts of your everyday life, any part that brings you joy. Be it the big, small, and in-between things, you’ll have the opportunity to ask your children: Who are you grateful for? Where do you find the light when the world feels dark?
Below are five picture books and five chapter books that embody gratitude in one way or another. For a more extensive list, be sure to check out the Read Aloud to a Child Week program page.
Picture Books
Eyes that Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho
We are Grateful: Ostaliheliga by Traci Sorell
All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon
The Ramble Shamble Children by Christina Soontornvat
Chapter Books
Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
Toys Go Out by Emily Jenkins
Ultimately, the goal is to help nourish a lifelong relationship between your child and the written word. By planting these early seeds, your young scholar can bloom into an adult who reads with frequency and ease, all while creating memories together that will last a lifetime.
About Read to Them
Read to Them is a nonprofit located in Richmond, Virginia, working to bring a culture of literacy to every home. Each October, we sponsor Read Aloud to a Child Week, highlighting the importance – and fun – of reading aloud. This year, the week falls on October 24-30. We invite you to join in the celebration.
Each year, we pick a theme. In 2020, the theme was “Let Your Voice Be Heard,” and we focused on books that empower children to speak up and advocate for themselves and others. This year’s theme is a secret…until mid-September. Stay tuned!
We began this initiative in Virginia over twenty years ago, and it has grown to be a national event with increasing participation from authors, publishers, and other literacy and children’s literature advocates. We share author videos, book lists, reading tips, and more. We are asking like-minded partners like you to help us spread the word. To learn more about Read To Them, go here.
Medallion and Author level Sponsorships for MCBD2022 are OPEN!
{DON’T DELAY! The sooner you lock in your spot, the more time we have to promote you!}
Sponsorship is a great way to support our non-profit initiative while tapping into some amazing visibility and exposure for authors and publishers of diverse board books, picture books, chapter books, and YA.
January 28, 2022, will mark the 9th year of Multicultural Children’s Book Day’s (MCBD) quest to get culturally diverse books into the hands of children, parents, teachers, and librarians.
GO HERE to download our Sponsorship Packet and see what your Platinum or Author Sponsorship for 2022 will include.
“MCBD has been an ally to an author like me. Long before everyone was talking about the need to be an ally. Not all of us protest or speak up in the same way. When looking for a way to help- a way to make a real systemic difference- consider joining Multicultural Children’s Book Day’s initiative to shine the spotlight on deserving authors and publishers so their books can ultimately get into the hands of readers and on school and home bookshelves. Multicultural Children’s Book Day is in it for the long haul because they know they need to make strategic and lasting changes to the children’s book industry.”~Author Deedee Cummings
Other Ways to Support This Non-Profit
Donate Books
Are you a publisher or an author of multicultural books for children? Would you like to donate a book for Multicultural Children’s Book Day? These books will ultimately end up in the hands of deserving teachers, librarians, parents, and young readers!
These donated books will be gifted to young readers, parents, and educators. There is no guarantee your donated book will be reviewed during the event but we always acknowledge our book donators and support them as much as possible.
Go HERE to Learn More.
Social Media SHOUT-OUTS (no limit) $39.00
Our Social Media Shout Out option is available 365 days a year and is a great way to shine the spotlight on your favorite diverse children’s or YA book or even your own works. Go here for more details and how you can tap into our robust social media presence and following.
Visit our Blog
Follow the #ReadYourWorld hashtag on social media
**Direct all questions and inquiries to admin@multiculturalchildrensbookday.com**
