Monday, November 28, 2011

Giving Out Books at Family Literacy Day

Kat Libby and the rest of the Reader to Reader team gave out over 600 new children’s books at the Holyoke Children’s Museum for it’s first ever Family Literacy Day.

A crowd of children excitedly gathered around as they picked out the books that caught their eyes.

“The event was a huge success,” said Kat Libby, Reader to Reader’s Director of Special Programs. “There were lots and lots of smiles!”


We were pleased to join the adult literacy and early childhood providers, local businesses and other community-based organizations in the greater Holyoke area that partnered to conduct the event. The activities included free books, hands-on activities for families, carousel rides, take home resources and literacy prizes.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Get an Autographed Copy of The Phantom Tollbooth!

Here is the perfect holiday gift for you or a friend! Author Norton Juster is signing copies of his children’s classic The Phantom Tollbooth for anyone donating $200 or more to Reader to Reader.

“Reader to Reader is a great charity and I want to do all I can to help them,” says Juster. "I hope you will too."

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the beloved children’s classic. The ingenious fantasy centers around Milo, a bored ten-year-old who comes home to find a large toy tollbooth sitting in his room. Joining forces with a watchdog named Tock, Milo drives through the tollbooth's gates and begins a memorable journey. He meets such characters as the foolish, yet lovable Humbug, the Mathemagician, and the not-so-wicked "Which," Faintly Macabre, who gives Milo the "impossible" mission of returning two princesses to the Kingdom of Wisdom.

"I read [The Phantom Tollbooth] first when I was 10. I still have the book report I wrote, which began 'This is the best book ever.'"
--Anna Quindlen, The New York Times

Reader to Reader is a nonprofit literacy organization that has donated over $40 million dollars worth of books and computers across the U.S. and in 14 countries.

To get your copy just donate $200 or more on Reader to Reader’s crowdrise page. Please mention “Tollbooth” on the memo line.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Bement Students Collect 2,000 Books!

A special thank you to the students at the Bement School in Deerfield, Massachusetts, for their book drive that collected over children’s 2,000 books.

Reader to Reader will donate the books to the Navajo Nation Library in Window Rock, Arizona.

The library serves the 27,000 square-mile Navajo Nation. The books will bolster the library’s children section and will also be used for outreach across the reservation.

“I want to congratulate the children of Bement School for all their hard work,” said Reader to Reader founder David Mazor. “ They did an incredible job of collecting and sorting the books. These books will be enjoyed by so many children on the Navajo Nation.”

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Author Donates Book Prize to Reader to Reader!

Special thank you to author Jeanne Birdsall for the donation to Reader to Reader of her cash prize from her 2011 New England Book Award.

The award was give in honor of The Penderwicks at Point Mouette.

“We are grateful that Jeanne Birdsall has honored us in this way,” said David Mazor, founder of Reader to Reader. “I hope that children everywhere continue to discover her delightful books.”

Reviews of The Penderwicks at Point Mouette have been very positive:

“ If you’ve someone who’d like to be introduced into this world for the first time or someone who’s been reading the books straight through, it makes no difference. Both will enjoy this newest Penderwickian challenge. Both will be intrigued and pleased. Both will love it. You will too for that matter.”
– School Library Journal

Monday, November 14, 2011

El Arco Kids Get Lots of Books

It's always a fun day at Reader to Reader when groups take a field trip to visit us.

Kids from El Arco Iris, an after school program sponsored by Nueva Esperanza in Holyoke, Massachusetts, came to visit and picked out lots of books to read.

The organization encourages the youth of Holyoke to explore their creativity via after school programs, such as photography courses and tutoring.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Computers on the Way to Hurricane Damaged Library in Upper Jay, NY

Three Dell Optiplex computers are on their way to the Wells Memorial Library in Upper Jay, New York.

The library lost their computers when Hurricane Irene hit at the end of August, and Reader to Reader pledged to replace them, as well as provide hundred of replacement children’s books.

Debbie Neil, who lives in Saranac Lake, New York, kindly volunteered to pick-up the computers and transport them back to Upper Jay. She also brought back a large number of books donated by Reader to Reader and the nearby Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Roger Sutton Receives Norton Juster Award

Reader to Reader is pleased to announce that the Horn Book editor in chief Roger Sutton is the recipient of the 2011 Norton Juster Award for Devotion to Literacy.

The award is given annually by Reader to Reader to a person who has played a
prominent role in encouraging literacy and reading enjoyment.

The award was created in 2008 and the first recipient was The Phantom Tollbooth author Norton Juster.

The award was renamed in his honor the following year.

Subsequent recipients were authors Jane Yolen in 2009 and Wendell Minor in 2010.

This year's award was presented to Roger Sutton before the hundreds of people attending the opening reception at the 22nd Annual Children's Book Illustration Exhibition.

“We are so pleased to honor Roger Sutton,” Reader to Reader founder David Mazor said. “He has played such an important role in helping people distinguish good children’s literature from bad. It is so important, because young reader’s get hooked on reading when they discover high quality storytelling and exceptional illustration.”

About this year’s recipient:

As the editor in chief of the Horn Book, Roger Sutton is only the seventh editor in chief since the magazine was founded in 1924. The Horn Book Magazine was created to “blow the horn for fine books for boys and girls.” And that is something it has done extraordinarily well. With an MA in library science from the University of Chicago, Sutton worked as a children's librarian for eight years before becoming a full-time book review editor. He has served as a judge for every major children's book award, and frequently teaches and speaks about children's books. His most recent book is A Family of Readers: The Book Lover's Guide to Children's and Young Adult Literature, which he co-edited with Martha Parravano.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Join Us November 6 for an Amazing, Fun, Free Event!













Join us Sunday, November 6 at the Michelson Galleries in Northampton, MA, as Reader to Reader presents our annual Norton Juster Award for Devotion to Literacy to Roger Sutton, editor of the Horn Book.

The award will presented at the opening reception for the 22nd Annual Children's Book Illustration Exhibition.

This free event features 50 of the world’s most famous illustrators, including Mo Willems, Jane Dyer, Diane DeGroat, Barry Moser and Wendell Minor.

Don’t miss special guest Jules Feiffer on the 50th anniversary of his classic The Phantom Tollbooth.

Reception 4:30-6:30pm.
Ceremony and entertainment begins at 5:30.

R. MICHELSON GALLERIES
132 Main Street
Northampton, MA

Still not convinced? Here's 22 reasons to come to the 22nd Annual Illustration Exhibition.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Gloom of Night

All week Reader to Reader’s home at the Cadigan Center has been out of power due to the damaging snowstorm that brought down the electric wires to the building. That hasn’t stopped us from working! Here Bob Grenoble of New Leadership Charter School in Springfield, MA, uses a flashlight to pick out books for his history class.