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 for everyone to engage with the literacy community.
The theme for this year’s event is “OFF ON AN ADVENTURE”!
We hope your bags are packed and ready for next week! The beauty of books is that they can take you on wild romps and noble quests, as well as heart-pounding adventures that just might teach you a thing or two along the way. And what better way to launch a journey than to do it together?
To kick us off, take a minute to enjoy this introduction to Read Aloud to a Child Week by author and illustrator, Peter Brown!
This year’s event runs from Sunday October 23rd to Saturday October 30th, but we hope you’ll keep reading aloud to the children in your life all year long. Participating is as easy as selecting a book and reading it aloud – be it parents with their children at home, teachers with their students in the classroom, or even older children picking up a book and reading it aloud to little ones who are just beginning their reading journey.
While you are certainly free to make your own selections, we’ve put together a list of five picture books and five chapter books that embody “Off on an Adventure!”
| Chapter Books | Picture Books |
| Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott, illustrated by Geneva B | Raising Dragons by Jerdine Nolen, illustrated by Elise Primavera |
| Nuts to You by Lynne Rae Perkins | Chirri & Chirra Underground by Kaya Doi (translated from Japanese by David Boyd) |
| The Adventures of a South Pole Pig by Chris Kurtz, illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt | Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Harry Bliss |
| Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein | The Night Library by David Zeltser, illustrated by Raul Colón |
| The Wild Robot by Peter Brown (available in Spanish) | Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown (available in Spanish) |
| The Wanderer by Sharon Creech | The Antlered Ship by Dashka Slater, illustrated by The Fan Brothers |
| Some Places More Than Others by Renée Watson | The World Belonged to Us by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Leo Espinosa |
If you participate in this year’s event, please tag us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @ReadtoThem! In the words of Peter Brown, “Happy reading!”
