The Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County is coordinating Read for the Record locally for the 16th year on Oct. 28. This year’s Read for the Record book is Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon by Kat Zhang. The book is about a little girl challenged with creating a dragon unlike any other to share with her class. The chosen book was announced at the coalition’s recent Mayors’ Literacy Initiative luncheon in Palm Beach.
The coalition’s local reading initiative is part of Jumpstart’s national Read for the Record campaign. The campaign brings together millions of adults and children around the world each year to read the same book on the same day. The goal is to increase awareness about the critical importance of early literacy.
Thanks to support from PNC Bank, the Literacy Coalition is distributing copies of the brightly illustrated book to hundreds of childcare centers throughout Palm Beach County. They are also working with municipal leaders, businesses and individual volunteers to read the book to children at dozens of local sites. For last year’s Read for the Record, the coalition distributed hundreds of books to more than 600 local childcare centers and coordinated volunteers to read virtually to more than 21,000 children at 75 sites.
“Reading aloud to children through events like Read for the Record has many benefits,” said Kristin Calder, CEO of the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County. “It’s heartwarming for the volunteers to see how engaged the children are in their reading, and it helps bring a story to life allowing the children to comprehend more. It also helps the children develop a stronger vocabulary and increase their attention span.”
Visit www.literacypbc.org or call (561) 279-9103 for more info.
