FreeBalance Celebrates World Read Aloud Day 2012

What a wonderful event. The employees at FreeBalance would like to thank the people at LitWorld who made World Read Aloud Day 2012 possible. The feedback from the employees was very positive. And the feedback from the children was especially enthusiastic. This event is such a special way to get involved in the local community in a meaningful way. And it was great that FreeBalance could demonstrate its commitment to literacy in such a fun and engaging manner.

This is the third consecutive year FreeBalance participated in World Read Aloud Day. Twelve offices around the world read at local schools, orphanages, and three SOS Children’s Villages. The offices that participated included: Antigua & Barbuda, Canada, Guatemala, India, Kosovo, Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Miami, Mongolia, Palestine, Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste.

This year each office selected a book in the local language. Activity kits and crayons were also provided to children by FreeBalance staff members and text was translated in seven different languages to encourage understanding and participation. Each child received a certificate of achievement.

Here are images from some of the FreeBalance offices around the world: 

GuatemalaCanadaCanadaKosovoTimor-LesteLiberiaPalestineMongoliaKyrgyzstanAntigua & BarbudaMiamiSierra LeoneIndia

A Special World Read Aloud Day Poem from Lesley Koyi

The World Read Aloud Day
By Lesley, from Kenya, a LitWorld Friend, Poet and Librarian

I hear the echo of a voice, reading aloud to the nations,
I listen to the story and what a story it is,
The story carries my mind and memory to far flung places,
But then
I realize I have had a journey of the mind and for a moment
I forget about my environment and all my challenges in life.

I hear the echo of a voice, reading aloud to the nations,
I want to know why the voice reads aloud to the nations,
I am told it’s the worlds read aloud day. 

I hear the echo of a voice, reading aloud to the nations
It mingles with the tweet of the singing birds, for a morning
Wake up call, for it’s just but morning,
The sun is just but rising, but the voice still goes on and strong,
The story carries with it the tells of literacy to the world, that the young
In the world can grow with strong minds of understanding and knowledge for life. 

I hear the echo of a voice, reading aloud to the nations,
I listen to the story and what a story it is,
The sweet voice mingle with various other voices of nature,
The birds chirping, the sun rising, the wind blowing, the trees swaying,
The waves rising and the plains soaring with life. 

Then I realize it’s not only, a voice reading aloud to the nations,
But its voices reading, all over the world, and finally,
The sun has gone down, its night and the bats are flying by,
I then continue to hear many other voices read aloud to,
The children into the deep of the night making it full of life.

Lesley is a guest reader via Video Chat this year on World Read Aloud Day. You can read his bio here.

Thank You to Our Friends at BRAG!

We want to give a special thanks to our friends at Bloggers Read Across the Globe (BRAG) for joining us in actively sharing their voices for this year's World Read Aloud Day! Founded by one of our WRADvocates, JoAnn Kairys, BRAG is dedicated to promoting reading and literacy among children around the world. Join the BRAG circle and help promote literacy ALL month long- find them here, and you can visit JoAnn on her website here! Thank you JoAnn and BRAG!

World Read Aloud Day in the Philippines!

Project Soles in the Philippines celebrating WRAD early!

This year, we will have the Philippines with us on World Read Aloud Day, with several organizations joining together to celebrate the power of literacy. Our LitCorps Ambassador in the Philippines, Ruby, has also partnered with local publishers VIBAL publishing and the National Book Development Board in creating a special event at the National Library in Manila tomorrow! We can't wait to see the pictures from the celebrations!

Check out the other Filipino organizations who have joined together to celebrate World Read Aloud Day! 

A Special WRAD Gift from Our Friends at Night ZooKeeper!

Our friends at the Night Zookeeper have a very special gift for you in time for World Read Aloud Day: a special edition Night Zookeeper e-book especialy made to celebrate WRAD! You can download the E-BOOK HERE. To learn more about Night Zookeeper, read below!

The world of the Night Zookeeper inspires young artists and writers from around the world, to create their own magical animals and to write stories about them.

The Night Zookeeper originally began as a collection of short children’s stories. Following its first delivery as a project in a Lancashire school back in 2007, two friends saw the potential for inspiring children to learn through the mediums of art, creative writing and playground games. And so, from the children’s smiles,
animal noises and magical creations, a Night Zoo was born and the gates opened in 2011.

In celebration of World Read Aloud Day, the Night Zookeeper ventured deep into the heart of his magical zoo and has collated a short ebook, showcasing some of the magical animals that he found there. We hope
you enjoy reading about these amazing characters as much as we do!

The Night Zookeeper will continue to be maintained and managed by the two friends that founded the website, but it can only grow and get better with your support.

Download the e-book and visit them here.