Free Scholastic Summer Reading Program Motivates Kids to Read with E-Books, Virtual Author Events, and Community

NEW YORK, April 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In the Scholastic Teacher & Principal School Report, educators overwhelmingly agree (99%), reading books for fun supports students' academic success. Today through Friday, September 3, kids can participate in the Scholastic Summer Reading program, a free, annual initiative to keep kids motivated to read all summer long while expanding critical access to books. This fun and digitally safe program hosts virtual author events, provides complete, engaging e-books, and empowers kids to unlock a donation of 100,000 print books from Scholastic and distributed in rural America by Save the Children, a nonprofit organization that has transformed the lives of more than 1 billion children since its founding more than 100 years ago.

To learn more about the Scholastic Summer Reading program, visit: www.scholastic.com/summer

"Summer is a critical time to recharge but also to prepare children for the upcoming school year. Yet, we understand that teachers, parents, and kids are exhausted from navigating this past year. That is why summer reading, more than ever, needs to be fun and motivational while supporting learning to keep kids coming back to the page — whether in hand or digitally. The Scholastic Summer Reading program brings stories that uplift directly to children and generates excitement around reading through interaction with peers and beloved authors," noted Greg Worrell, President, Scholastic Education. "And we thank our partner Save the Children for helping expand this program's efforts to build home libraries for children in communities nationwide."

"We are so grateful for our longtime partnership with Scholastic, which has been committed to supporting Save the Children's work to ensure children in rural America have access to books," said Betsy Zorio, Save the Children's Vice President of U.S. Programs. "Together, this summer, through the Scholastic Summer Reading program, we will continue to encourage meaningful learning moments starting with book ownership for kids who may not otherwise have access to high quality reading materials."

Kids can join the Scholastic Summer Reading program by creating an account on Scholastic Home Base, a safe, 24/7 moderated digital destination, where they can:

• Read free e-books and enjoy author read-aloud videos. Kids will have access to select e-books in their entirety, which they can read all summer long. Titles include favorite series such as Goosebumps and I Survived. In addition, kids can also enjoy a variety of read-aloud videos including The Word Collector, Train, and The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet.
• Attend virtual author events. Every Thursday from May 6 to August 26 at 3 p.m. EST, bestselling and award-winning authors including summer reading ambassadors Sayantani DasGupta (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond), Varian Johnson (Twins, The Great Greene Heist), Ann M. Martin (The Baby-Sitters Club series), and Kelly Yang (Front Desk) will host virtual events. During each event, kids will be able to interact with authors via a moderated chat function, ask questions, learn behind-the-scenes information, and sometimes even write a short piece with the authors.
• Help unlock a donation of 100,000 books. Every consecutive day a child checks into the Summer Zone, they will create a Reading Streak™, which will help to unlock a donation of new, free print books from Scholastic. Save the Children will distribute the 100,000 books to kids in communities throughout the country with limited or no access to books.
• Earn reading milestones and rewards. Over the course of the summer, kids will have the ability to earn trophies, virtual items, and in-game tokens for their Reading Streak progress. Throughout each achievement level, kids will collect new virtual rewards and accessories for their digital avatar.
• Join a community of readers and create reading circles. Kids can interact with old friends and make new companions along the way. The Summer Zone in Home Base provides kids with a social platform centered around reading, book-based games and activities, dance parties, and more. New this summer, kids can join and name their own "circles" to track group reading progress connected to the overall book donation, start community conversations, and write and share their own stories, comics, and art, all in their special group Newsfeed.
• Share reading progress. At any point throughout the summer, kids can download and print custom reports to share their individual reading progress with their caregiver and/or educator.

To further support summer learning, Scholastic offers newly expanded and adapted resources and low-cost offerings including "Grab-and-Go" book packs, special summer reading Book Club flyers, and summer reading virtual Book Fairs. To learn more, visit: www.scholastic.com/summer

To learn more about Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children's publishing, education, and media company, visit the Company's media room: http://mediaroom.scholastic.com.

SOURCE Scholastic

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