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Engage with Ericsson's Connected Tree: tell it your story, and join the tree's other fans in creating a group storytelling wave across the world!
Read Interviews and Tidbits from some outstanding WRAD Ambassadors!
Spencer Christian, news anchor for ABC, shares some read aloud memories and advice:
I can recall the vivid images painted by the words in the stories. It was almost as if I could "see" the stories unfolding in front of me, as my parents were reading. Click for more...
Dick Robinson, Chairman, President and CEO of Scholastic shares insights on reading:
Build resilience, understanding, self esteem, confidence. Click for more...
Leonard Marcus, children's book historian, author and critic, shares read-aloud memories:
I had trouble learning to read. Dr. Seuss books are the first ones I remember, in large part because they made reading fun. Click for more...
WRAD Authors Talk About the Importance of Reading Aloud!
Steve Jenkins, children's book illustrator:
Chris Soentpiet, children's book author and illustrator:
"I love sharing the gift of reading to my friends."
Naomi Shihab Nye, poet, song writer and novelist:
Who's rich?
The boy with a book he hasn't read yet.
The girl with a tower of books by her bed.
She opens and opens and opens.
Her life starts everywhere.
Who's rich?
Anyone befriended again and again
by a well-loved book.
This is a wealth
we never lose.
Nikki Grimes, author, poet and journalist:
I had a rather Dickensian childhood, and I often say that reading and writing were my survival tools, and they were. Books taught me to dream, and to imagine a life beyond the limits of my environment. Reading gave me a hunger for foreign vistas, and the means to one day see them. Books were the stepping stones that led me to the life I enjoy today. Clearly, my life would not be the same without reading.
Ann Turner, children's book author:
Being read to by my beloved father had a certain ritual attached to it. Certain things had to be done first, rather like food being served properly, or perhaps a religious ceremony with the right dishes, candles, and incense. Click for more...
A Call to All Children: Donate a Story to the Vienna Public Library!
Read a story in any language you wish, record a video or audio file, and send it to the Vienna library for their collection of "Stories to listen to in different languages." These stories will be available for listening to on the VPL's children's website at kirango.at as of March 3!
Here's how to contribute a story:
- Stories can be read or told
- Stories can be between 30 seconds and 10 minutes
- Files to be emailed should be less than 5 MB
- Save larger files on CD ROM and send to: Hauptbucherei, z.Hd. Kirango, der Kinderplanet (Kennwort: Geschichten zum Anhoren - Weltvorlesetag), Urban-Loritz-Platz 2a, 1070 Wien mp3 files should have a quality of 128 kbit/s, max. file size: 8 MB (this would be best, for sound quality)
- Send title of story, language, short description of story, first name or pen name and age of story teller/reader, and if s/he wants to tell a little bit about him/herself or even send a picture, great. If it's easy, the person can send the text in written form, either as printed copy or file, so the stories will be accessible to the deaf.
- Email files to kirango@buechereien.wien.at
- Write in the email subject line "Geschichtenspende fur LitWorlds Weltvorlesetag, 3.3.2010"