LitWorld Featured on CNN and Al Jazeera Live

LitWorld messages and innovations are spreading around the world. With the recent abduction of over 250 girls from a classroom in Chibok, Nigeria, spreading our mobile and nimble programs is more urgent than ever. Literacy and access to a safe education are fundamental and foundational human rights that break the cycle of extreme poverty and guarantee better health and livelihood outcomes for girls and boys. LitClubs harness the transformational power of story. Children who understand their own stories and who are exposed to the stories of others build empathy, compassion and leaders who understand that their words have power to change the world.

LitWorld's Executive Director, Pam Allyn, was recently interviewed by CNN International and Al Jazeera Live to talk about the global learning crisis and to explain how we can tell a new story for our world's children, and how they in turn will tell a new story for our world. Watch the interviews below.

Uploaded by litworld on 2014-05-06.

Uploaded by litworld on 2014-05-06.

Why Poetry Matters

To celebrate National Poetry Month, LitWorld's Founder, Pam Allyn, shares the power of poetry to unite us and create community, and also to set us free. 

"Poetry is how we say to the world, and to each other, "I am here." Some of my most beloved poets -- Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Billy Collins and Naomi Shihab Nye -- talk about poetry as a way to document the world and our common experiences, to say what needs to be said in a direct, powerful and beautiful way.

After 9/11, when poetry was flowing in a steady and necessary stream across the Internet, someone asked Billy Collins why that phenomenon was happening and he said: "Because poetry tells the story of the human heart." Poems were the kind of urgent and comforting storytelling we needed then, and the kinds of stories we need every day. Poetry matters to the little girl in Philippines who is discovering who she is and why her language sounds like a song in her poem. It matters to the boy in foster care who is trying to find new ways to express his frustrations, but also his deepest dreams. It matters to Syrian refugees who are longing to hold tight to their dearest memories of home and to tell their stories of strength and resilience going forward. "

Click to read the full piece on HuffPost Books.

Your Presence is a Gift. Please Join Us at the LitWorld Gala.

Come together with us for the LitWorld Gala 2014 to help children lead lives of independence, hope and joy.

May 1st 6:30 - 9pm

New York City

We hope to see you on this fun and sparkly evening! Click here to RSVP and purchase tickets online. We are also excited to offer a sneak peek at our one-of-a-kind silent auction items and experiences. If you can't make it, please make a contribution in absentia for the millions of girls and boys who long to read.

LitWorld Founder Pam Allyn Marks International Women's Day at the Bush Institute

LitWorld's Founder, Pam Allyn, celebrated International Women's Day at the Bush Institute in Dallas, TX. It was graduation day for the 2013 Women's Initiative Fellows from Egypt. Pam has been mentoring an amazing young literacy activist, Hadeer, for the past year. Here is a video of today's ceremony with opening remarks by Laura Bush and George W. Bush. Hadeer and Pam were chosen to participate in a panel to share their journey together and to celebrate the transformation that happens when women and girls are given the opportunity to tell their stories, to learn from each other and explore their passions.

A Movement Heard Around the World...

Yesterday over 750 cities celebrated World Read Aloud Day! Photos are pouring in from around the world and we're sharing them all on our Facebook page. If you haven't already, make sure to tell us how you celebrated and email photos and videos from your special day to wrad(at)litworld.org.

LitWorld's celebration in New York City made headlines. We held our morning event at the Scholastic Store and were joined by author R.L. Stine who read to us from his new book. Then we headed to the Jefferson Market branch of the New York Public Library for an evening of reading fun. NYC Police Commissioner William J. Bratton and author Jacquline Woodson were our special guests. Before treating our LitClub families and friends to a read aloud, Commissioner Bratton and LitWorld's Founder, Pam Allyn, held a press conference. They talked about the importance of reading aloud from an early age to close the word gap; the importance of men as reading role models; and Commissioner Bratton told the story of the read aloud that changed his life. 

World Read Aloud Day Is Here

Raise your voice today for every child's right to read.

Help us bring access to stories and the power of reading to children everywhere. Here's what you can do:

Read aloud to a child, a cherished elder, or a colleague today! 
 
Post Pam Allyn's latest Huffington Post piece, Read Aloud. Change the World. on social media to spread the word.
 
Share photos and videos from your day with LitWorld.

World Read Aloud Day Makes Headlines

Tomorrow is the fifth annual celebration of World Read Aloud Day. Our global movement is making headlines. Our founder, Pam Allyn, is featured on the front page of the Huffinton Post today with her piece, "Read Aloud. Change the World." Read the full story here.

In addition, Pam will be interviewed by NBC News New York at 7pm EST this evening. Check your local listings and tune in.

Finally, we are overjoyed to announce details of our New York City World Read Aloud Day event. We are joined this year by an extraordinary group of partners and individuals. It wouldn't be World Read Aloud Day without Scholastic, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Gray Line New York. Our evening event at the Jefferson Market branch of the New York Public Library will feature read alouds from author Jacqueline Woodson and NYC Police Commissioner William Bratton. All of this comes on the heels of a morning event (closed to the public) at the Scholastic store where R.L. Stine will read aloud to a lucky group of students & LitClub members! We thank Gray Line New York for generously providing a double decker bus to transport our LitClub families to our event. Read the full press release here.