Their words echoed off the walls as they headed toward the gymnasium. Walking down the hall alongside the multiple advisory groups, each child exuded joy, empowerment, and excitement about reading. Let it be known that I am not a crier, but in the presence of such an impactful moment, I had to consciously prohibit tears from escaping.

In the gymnasium, the elementary school classes marched in a spiral while continuing to chant, wave their book puppets, smile, and laugh. World Read Aloud Day 2013 truly proved the magic in literacy.

Sitting down with the New Yorker or reading an article about the gentrification of my neighborhood, it is easy for me to forget reading’s magical properties and delimit reading to its useful and practical purposes. However, participating in World Read Aloud Day reminded me that not only is reading magic, but when we read, we are magic too."

--Susannah Rosenfield, LitWorld Intern

Pure joy and jubilation in at our Innovation Hub in Kibera, Kenya. Our partner, the Children of Kibera Foundation, organized a magical celebration.

Our partner Project Pearls celebrated World Read Aloud Day at LitWorld's Innovation Hub in Ulingan, the Philippines.

Our partner Booksource held read alouds a book tours in St. Louis, MO.

The World Literacy Foundation teamed up with the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation to give books to a school in Armadale, New South Wales. The day was filled with story-telling, cultural performances and literacy games.

Our new friends Goodreads Indonesia read aloud to pedestrians on "car free day" in Jakarta, Indonesia and in several other cities across Indonesia.

LitWorld Board Member World Board Member Nicole Nakashian read The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell aloud to her work team.

The Golden Girls Foundation in Kisumu, Kenya held an intergenerational WRAD celebration with our LitClub girls, their mothers and grandmothers.

Being able to read words and sentences fluently does not always mean a child can comprehend what he or she is reading. Proficient readers require sufficient vocabulary, general domain knowledge about a variety of topics, an ability to navigate text structures (such as problem-solution), and an ability to understand syntax. Read Aloud is an incredibly effective way to provide support to developing readers in all of these areas.

The read aloud is so effective, and essential, because human beings are not natural readers. We are wired to listen and speak, so are naturally good at listening, but we have to work to learn to read. Therefore, by listening to books being read aloud to us we can efficiently acquire new, more sophisticated vocabulary and background knowledge, gain important exposure to text structures and syntax, and can understand books well above our own independent reading levels. All of this leads to much better independent reading comprehension.

By reading a mix of high-quality non-fiction and fiction to children every day, and through subsequent discussion about the text being read, we can also improve children’s oral language skills, which are vitally important for reading comprehension success.

Read Aloud benefits all children and young adults from all backgrounds. And for children who may not have been read to from an early age, and may not have developed strong oral language skills in the years before school, frequent Read Aloud is absolutely critical.  Read Aloud can be the most effective way to ensure that all children can read, comprehend, and develop a love of reading and learning."

--Dave Ciulla is the Executive Director of ReadWorks.

ReadWorks is a non-profit organization that helps teachers meet the nationwide crisis in reading comprehension. They help teachers improve their effectiveness through research-based, classroom-proven practices and  curriculum. Learn more at ReadWorks.org.

LitWorld Facilitators spent time at local primary schools reading aloud together, children shared their favorite stories with their classmates and were treated to read alouds from local community guest readers. 

In addition to activities in schools, LitWorld Facilitators traveled together to the women's prison to involve the women and the officers in this joyful day meant for all people.

Along the way to the prison, LitWorld leaders met a women who sells french fries and asked for an opportunity to read aloud. 

We are so moved by the leadership and inclusivity of this special celebration. Let's allow the joy emanating from each of these pictures to carry the read aloud movement forward. Make every day World Read Aloud Day.

--Submitted by Girls LitClub Facilitator Belinda

We asked Debbie why she celebrates World Read Aloud Day, here is what she had to say:

"I know the power and the joy that reading aloud brings. The power is that reading aloud creates a love of literature, exposure to extensive vocabulary, and growth in comprehension. I don't remember a single worksheet that my fourth grade teacher gave me, but I remember her reading The Little House on the Prarirre series. Besides getting spanked for talking too much, that's about all I remember."

On March 6 Debbie will be reading aloud to classrooms over Skype, and visiting a local school in Warminster, Pennsylvania to share stories with classrooms of excited children!

Get to know Debbie, follow her on Twitter, @DebbieDadey, and visit her at debbiedadey.com.

Crow Bookshop is Burlington Vermont’s local, independent bookstore since 1995. They carry new, used, and remainder titles in a wide variety of subjects–from classics to cookbooks, graphic novels to gardening books, sci-fi to psychology–including a fine section of children's books. Learn more at crowbooks.com.

Colby is taking the World Read Aloud Day blogging challenge, and in doing so giving us great insight into how he became the passionate reader he is today. A few things will happen when you read his blog: You will want to read (or re-read) Hatchet. The joy and love he exudes for reading and learning will make you wish you were a student in his class. Finally, you'll really wish you could see a picture of him sitting on his nightly reading throne, pictured below.

Thank you for bringing us into your reading world, Colby, and thank you for sharing your love for stories with so many children and adults, and in doing so bringing them into the global literacy club.

Stay in touch with this great WRADvocate on twitter, follow @colbysharp.

Celebrations at our Innovation Hub were run by extraordinary leaders and LitWorld Regional Coordinators Prisca and Jeff of the Children of Kibera Foundation.

Celebrations in Kisumu were organized by our partner the Golden Girls Foundation, and lead by our wonderful LitClub Facilitator Golda:

We brought all of the LitClub members from three schools together and proceeded to have a day like no other! The little girls read aloud to each other, to their mothers, and even their grandmothers! Likewise, their mothers and grandmothers read aloud to them. It was magial.

Hear more from Golda, and see even more pictures of this special celebration on the Golden Girls Foundation Facebook page.

This year John has planned an incredible celebration of literacy and reading aloud for Brook Forest, including Skype chats with other classrooms around the country, and guest authors Katherine Applegate, Joanne Levy, Laurel Snyder, Leeza Hernandez, and Dori Hillestad Butler!

John is also taking the World Read Aloud Day Blogging Challenge and his insights, humor and reflections on the power of reading and sharing stories are moving and hilarious all at once. In his first post he set a timer for 90 seconds and typed the first read aloud memories that came to mind. In his second post he channeled his 10-year-old self, and in his third post he shares a snapshot of his reading life.

Follow him on twitter @MrSchuReads, and as a special treat, watch this video for a tour of his bookcase, and count how many titles you add to your "to read" list in the first minute!

We asked Josh, "What do you think is special about reading aloud?" Here is what he had to say:  

"One of the greatest, unexpected joys of fatherhood has been reading aloud to my son. I didn't realize how much I’d missed it until he started begging for ten stories before bed each evening.

Night by night, I see the stories, characters, and book shaping my little boy. I’ve never been more aware that reading makes us better thinkers, and reading aloud makes us better readers. I am seeing it happen in real time.

And at five years old, he is already in love with storytelling. He invents, he imagines, and he experiments as he uses stories to try and explain the world he sees.

I celebrate World Read Aloud Day because the ability to tell our own stories is an integral part of personal dignity. And my son understands it as well, even though he doesn’t know he knows."

--Josh Hanagarne

Josh has a memoir on the way! The World's Strongest Librarian will be out on May 2nd, we can't wait to read his story. Until then watch the trailer below. Josh embodies LitWorld's 7 Strengths and we were moved by the way he honors and values the power of story to sustain and empower lives.