7 Ways to Mark Read Across America Day

A week of activities in celebration of the power and pleasure of literacy

We're celebrating Read Across America Day! The official day is March 2, the birthday of children's book author Dr. Seuss, but we're making a party of it with a week's worth of activities to honor the power and pleasure of reading.

1. Revisit your favorite childhood books.

Rereading the books that delighted us as kids never gets old. Whether for beautiful artwork, comforting themes, captivating stories, or laugh-out-loud comedy, they still land perfectly after all these years. Here are some of our favorites. What are some of yours?

• Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans—"In an old house in Paris, that was covered with vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. The smallest one was Madeline."
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats—One morning a little boy in Brooklyn wakes up to a changed world.
• Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen and Kevin Hawkes—Miss Merriweather, the librarian is firm on no running and noise in the library. But what about lions?
• Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban and Lillian Hoban—Whether picky or adventurous, eaters of all stripes savor this tale about a finicky young badger.
• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz—'Cause everybody has bad days. And we all appreciate stories that let us know we're not alone.
• The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Dubose Heyward and Marjorie Flack—The little, brown bunny at the center of this story breaks down barriers to become an Easter Bunny.

2. Choose a good read-aloud to enjoy with your clan (instead of watching TV).

There's a reason that audiobooks are so popular! The experience of some books is just better when they're read aloud. And there's nothing quite so bonding as enjoying a read-aloud with your loved ones. These are some great novels to enjoy with a range of ages.

• A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck—The first in a hilarious series about a brother and sister who spend unforgettable summers with their incorrigible grandmother. (Middle grade and up)
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo—A moving story about a beloved lost toy on an extraordinary adventure. (Middle grade and up)
• Ronia The Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren—The daughter of a robber chieftain causes trouble when she befriends the son of a rival band. (Middle grade and up)
• Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper—The moving story from the mind of 11-year-old Melody who lives with cerebral palsy. She's brilliant, but powerless to express herself. (Ten and up)
• The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown—The thrilling true story of American Olympic triumph in Nazi Germany. (Teens and up)
• The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle—A Unicorn, living alone in a lilac wood, ventures out of her enchanted forest on a quest for others of her kind. (Teens and up)

3. Visit your local library.

With online reservation systems, digital subscription services, and a wealth of edifying events to attend, library systems are getting more and more important to our communities. Celebrate literacy by taking a trip to your local library, and be sure to check out their event calendar.

4. Reread the first book you fell in love with.

Who knows when love will strike? Whether as children, teens, or adults, we all remember the books that worked their way into our hearts and the way we never wanted them to end. We probably even have a dog-eared copy sitting on our bookshelves. This is the perfect week to give it another read! Here are a few of ours. What are yours?

• Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume—The laugh-out-loud chronicles of tween Peter Hatcher.
• The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley—An orphaned young woman finds her destiny as a powerful warrior in this dreamy fantasy.
• Shogun by James Clavell—After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan.
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou—A luminous memoir as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself.
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry—The Pulitzer Prize-winning frontier epic introducing an unforgettable assortment of characters.
• Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards—A ten-year-old orphan discovers a tiny deserted cottage in the woods, a place she can make her own.
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card—The Hugo and Nebula award-winning story of a gifted young boy's recruitment into an interstellar war.

5. Check out recommendations from Read Across America.

The purpose of Read Across America is to "create and celebrate a nation of diverse readers." Check out their search tool for finding books offering specific perspectives and themes, as well as ideas for celebrating all year. The website also offers twelve months of recommended books, authors, and teaching resources that promote diversity and inclusion. Each month includes a book recommended for elementary, middle grade, and YA reading levels. March's books include:

• Dream Street by Tricia Elam Walker (elementary)—A caring community of neighbors invite, nurture, celebrate, share, and listen to each other's dreams.
• Karthik Delivers by Sheela Chari (middle grade)—Over the course of a summer, a fourteen-year-old boy makes deliveries for his father's ailing Indian grocery store and secretly takes the lead in a local play.
• We Weren't Looking to Be Found by Stephanie Kuehn (YA)—Two struggling teens from very different backgrounds find themselves looking for answers and hope at a treatment facility in rural Georgia.

6. Share a recent favorite with a friend.

Often when we're enjoying a really good read, we're wishing we could discuss it with someone. Well there's an easy solution to that. Share your new favorites with someone in your life who you think would also love it. Here are a few books we've recently gifted to people in our lives:

• Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout—A poignant, pitch-perfect novel about a divorced couple stuck together during lockdown.
• A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo—A masterful queer coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of Supreme Court decisions legalizing gay marriage.
• Trust by Diaz Hernan—What is truth? Who has the right to tell a story? These are the questions at the heart of this immersive, enigmatic novel.
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin—Childhood friends, Sam and Sadie have hit the big time with their blockbuster video game. But success won't protect them from heartbreak.

Take a look here for more of our favorite reads from 2022. What are your favorite books from the past year?

7. Find your own new favorite!

One of the best ways to celebrate reading is to discover new literature to love. Here are some current bestsellers we're excited to get our hands on:

• It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover—The long-anticipated sequel to Hoover's blockbuster It Ends With Us.
• Spare by Prince Harry—Harry chronicles his journey with raw, unflinching honesty.
• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus—Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average 1960s woman.
• The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman—A wise and funny reckoning with the decade that brought the greatest shift in human consciousness in American history.
• The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson—In 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC, two young Black women navigate challenges.
• The Boys From Biloxi by John Grisham—A riveting story of childhood friends who ultimately find themselves on opposite sides of the law.

Celebrate the joys of reading and literacy with books, new and old, that captivate, entertain, and inform.

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Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon