Operation Record a Story Helps Military Families Stay Close Across the Miles

LINCOLNWOOD, Ill., Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- This fall and into the holiday season, military parents about to deploy will have the chance to arrange for shared story time with their children even after they leave for their tours of duty, through United Through Reading's Military Program. Operation Record a Story, a program sponsored by Publications International, Ltd. (PIL), has donated thousands of books, many from its award-winning Record a Story™ collection, to the nonprofits USO and United Through Reading®. Through these organizations, service members can record the stories for their children before they deploy. The books, along with a DVD of the parents recording the story, will then be shipped to the kids for the holidays.  

Recordings will take place at the following United Through Reading and USO host locations:  

• Onboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Homeport – San Diego
• Onboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), Homeport – Everett, WA (in San Diego mid-October)  
• 1st Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment, Fort Jackson, SC, located near Columbia, SC
• Goodfellow AFB, Texas, Airman and Family Readiness Center – located near San Angelo, TX
• USO Dallas/Fort Worth Airport
• USO Fort Hood, TX
• USO of Metropolitan Washington – BWI Airport, Baltimore
• USO of North Carolina – Fort Bragg, NC
• USO of New England – Boston
• USO of Indiana/Camp Atterbury – Greencastle, IN
• Fort Indiantown Gap USO – Philadelphia International Airport
• USO of Illinois – Chicago
• USO of South Carolina – West Columbia, SC

Since 1990, United Through Reading has been sending kids videos of their military parents reading books aloud for them. The program encourages parents or caretakers at home to then photograph or take a video of the child enjoying the book and DVD they receive, and send the photos or videos back to the service member.

Operation Record a Story enhances the United Through Reading experience by adding a recordable storybook to the mix. Record a Story allows readers to easily record their voice narrating a story, so kids can then hear their parents or other relatives read to them as they turn each page. This year, Operation Record a Story book titles include:

• Dora the Explorer:  Exploring Memories
• Sesame Street: Together at Heart
• Thomas:  Good Night, Little Engine
• The Day You Were Born

"It is such a privilege to honor the sacrifices military parents make in order to serve our country," said Mike Sieczkowski, Executive Vice President of Product Development at PIL. "We hope Operation Record a Story can make a difference in helping these families stay connected."  

Sally Ann Zoll, Ed.D., chief executive of United Through Reading, added, "We are thrilled to work with PIL and the USO on Operation Record a Story. This program complements our mission of uniting families during the stressful experience of separation through the bond of story time."

USO Vice President and Chief Development Officer Kelli Seely said, "Operation Record a Story helps both the USO and United Through Reading achieve what we strive to accomplish every day and that's help military families stay connected. Giving military kids the chance to hear a loved one's voice reading aloud – whether the service member is a parent, grandparent, or sibling – is one very special way of delivering that connection."

For more information about the Record a Story™ books and Operation Record a Story, please visit www.record-a-story.com.

About Publications International, Ltd.

Publications International, Ltd. (PIL), a privately held company based in Lincolnwood, Illinois, is the world's largest publisher of children's interactive books. PIL introduces hundreds of new children's titles annually and sells more than 10 million traditional and electronic soundbooks each year. In addition to its rapidly growing children's book division, PIL also publishes widely popular cookbooks, the New Seasons line of albums and journals, and a wide variety of general and specialty titles. For more than 40 years, PIL has provided consumer and retail partners with products defined by creativity, quality and value, operating with the mission to "get as many books into the hands of as many readers as possible." The company is actively involved in philanthropic literacy efforts, donating books to children's charities and schools to stimulate the love of reading in young people. For more information, please visit www.pubint.com.

About United Through Reading

Founded in 1989, United Through Reading was the nation's first nonprofit to promote the read-aloud experience for separated families.  Research shows that the read-aloud experience is a way for children to experience the joy of reading and gain critical learning and communications skills.  There have been more than one million beneficiaries of the United Through Reading military program since its inception. For more information, visit www.unitedthroughreading.org or call (858) 481-7323.  United Through Reading can also be found on Facebook and at @UnitedTReading on Twitter.  

About the USO

The USO (United Service Organizations) lifts the spirits of America's troops and their families millions of times each year at hundreds of places worldwide.  We provide a touch of home through centers at airports and military bases, top quality entertainment and innovative programs and services. We also provide critical support to those who need us most, including forward-deployed troops and their families, wounded warriors and their families and the families of the fallen. The USO is a private, non-profit organization, not a government agency. We rely on the generosity of our volunteers and donors.  In addition to individual donors and corporate sponsors, the USO is supported by Worldwide Strategic Partners: American Airlines, AT&T Inc., BAE Systems, The Boeing Company, Clear Channel Communications, The Coca-Cola Company, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Procter & Gamble and TriWest Healthcare Alliance. We are also supported through the United Way and Combined Federal Campaign (CFC-11381).  To join us in this patriotic mission, and to learn more about the USO, please visit http://www.uso.org.    

Contact:  Ann Morris/Amy Magro
Healy & Schulte
312/765-8770; [email protected]

SOURCE Publications International, Ltd.