Our annual worldwide campaign to celebrate the joy of reading with children

"Will you read me a story?" This simple question is an invitation to share the joy of reading with a child in your life. At Jumpstart, we know that reading aloud with preschool children lays the groundwork for strong literacy skills and future success in school and in life.

In 2006, we created Jumpstart’s Read for the Record, an international campaign to bring preschool children together with valued grownups in their lives to read the same book, on the same day, in communities all over the world. In 2008, we broke our own world record as nearly 700,000 readers shared the classic children’s tale, Corduroy. On one historic day, one amazing book was read aloud in classrooms, libraries and homes from Japan, Germany and Brazil to cities and rural communities across America. Hushed with wonder and tickled with giggles, children around the world simultaneously experienced the joy of reading.

Pledge to read today with Jumpstart’s Read for the Record and help us to make sure that our fourth annual Campaign on October 8, 2009 reaches more children than ever before!

What is Jumpstart’s Read for the Record Campaign?

Jumpstart’s Read for the Record is a campaign designed to bring attention to the importance of early education and make it a national priority.  Jumpstart aims to break a world record of largest shared reading experience by encouraging hundreds of thousands of children and adults to read the same book on the same day.

This year children and adults will read Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar together at events nationwide on October 8 at schools, libraries, stores, hotels, playgrounds, offices, and homes.