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Read to Them has launched a nationwide reading program designed to help students read together and stay connected over the summer.

Students will read a high quality children’s novel with their families and are invited to participate in a series of online activities and engagements provided by Read to Them on social media. The summer titles are Rump: The True Story of Rumplestiltskin, by Lisa Shurtliff (June); Toys Go Out, by Emily Jenkins (July); and Nim’s Island, by Wendy Orr (August).

“We know how important it is for students to keep reading and build their reading skills over the summer. #OneBookConnects is the perfect way to meet this need. It keeps students engaged, it animates families, and it helps schools stay connected,” Read to Them’s Director of Programs, Bruce Coffey said.

Read to Them provides a set of engagement packets for each participating school – trivia questions, discussion questions, and activities – to share with their families. Students and individual families can also participate in a wide range of online activities via social media – author videos, daily contest provocations, a weekly blog, chapter readings, and live activities on Instagram and Facebook.

Penguin Random House authors enjoy interacting with young readers and are lending their enthusiastic support to #OneBookConnects. Authors are providing tailored welcome videos; reading the first chapter of their respective titles online; and engaging in online interviews with Read to Them staff and social media Q and A sessions with readers. Sally Warner penned a fulsome blog entry offering five tips on growing up and a suite of advice and suggestions for families dealing with being sequestered. Liesl Shurtliff will be sharing homemade videos making troll sludge and performing a Rumplestiltskin Reader’s Theatre with her family.

Read to Them rolled out #OneBookConnects in April, in order to help schools engage with students and families during the COVID-19 sequester. The goal was to provide a fun way to maintain constructive reading habits, without adding to the toll of digital schoolwork. Schools and families read A Boy Called Bat, by Elana K. Arnold in April, and are reading EllRay Jakes Walks the Plank!, by Sally Warner, this May. Read to Them plans to continue #OneBookConnects in fall whether schools open or not.