Are you ready for World Read Aloud Day? It’s an annual celebration of sharing stories from the amazing folks at LitWorld and Scholastic. This year’s World Read Aloud Day will be February 1, 2023!
If you’re new to this page, I’m Kate Messner, author of more than fifty books for kids, including these recent releases.
I’m also a former middle school teacher and a forever reader. Each winter, I help out with LitWorld’s World Read Aloud Day by pulling together a list of author & illustrator volunteers who would like to spend part of the day doing quick virtual read-aloud visits with classrooms around the world to share the joy of stories.
This year, because I have two new books coming out just after World Read Aloud Day, I’ll be offering two special virtual author visit opportunities!
ONCE UPON A BOOK, my picture book collaboration with Grace Lin, releases on February 7th. To celebrate, Grace and I are offering a virtual author visit from 1-2pm EST on January 31, the day before World Read Aloud Day! We’ll offer a read-aloud excerpt from Once Upon A Book, share the story behind this collaboration, and invite readers to use their own imaginations, writing in response to art! The session will wrap up with time for Q&A with classrooms. Best of all, it’s FREE with your pre-order of ONCE UPON A BOOK from the Eric Carle Museum Bookstore! After you order, you’ll be emailed link for the webinar on 1/31. Later, you’ll get a link to our video replay, which will be available for two weeks. You can learn more and pre-order your copy of ONCE UPON A BOOK here.
The fifth book in our acclaimed Fergus and Zeke easy reader series is also coming out just after World Read Aloud Day! FERGUS AND ZEKE FOR PRESIDENT is a playful celebration of America’s presidents that will also spark great discussions about what qualities make a leader. I’ll be sharing a first-chapter read-aloud right here on this page just before World Read Aloud Day. Add a bookmark now so you’ll remember to check back to share it with your readers! FERGUS AND ZEKE FOR PRESIDENT is available for pre-order now, so you can pick up your classroom or library copy to share later on.
And of course, there’s also an AMAZING list of authors and illustrators who have volunteered to Zoom into classrooms for World Read Aloud Day!
WORLD READ ALOUD DAY IS FEBRUARY 1, 2023!
The authors & illustrators listed have volunteered their time to read aloud to classrooms and libraries all over the world. These aren’t long, fancy presentations; a typical one might go like this:
- 1-2 minutes: Author introduces himself or herself and talks a little about his or her books.
- 3-5 minutes: Author reads aloud a short picture book, or a short excerpt from a chapter book/novel
- 5-10 minutes: Author answers a few questions from students about reading/writing
- 1-2 minutes: Author book-talks a couple books he or she loves (but didn’t write!) as recommendations for the kids
If you’re a teacher or librarian and you’d like to have an author Zoom with your classroom or library on World Read Aloud Day, here’s how to do it:
- Check out this list of volunteering authors and illustrators, and visit their websites to see which ones might be a good fit for your students. Note that this is a list of traditionally published book creators. This year, the wonderful Judy Campbell-Smith, author of AJ’S NEIGHBORHOOD, has also put together a list of self-published authors & illustrators offering WRAD visits. For both lists, you’ll want to check out the authors’ books ahead of time to make sure they’re a good fit for your readers.
- Contact the author directly by using the email provided or clicking on the link to his or her website and finding the contact form. Please be sure to provide the following information in your request:
- Your name and what grade(s) you work with
- Your city and time zone (this is important for scheduling!)
- Possible times to connect on February 1st. Please note authors’ availability and time zones. Adjust accordingly if yours is different!
- Your preferred platform (Zoom, Google Meet, etc.)
- A phone number where you can be reached on that day in case of technical issues
- Please understand that authors are people, too, and have schedules and personal lives, just like you, so not all authors will be available at all times. It may take a few tries before you find someone whose books and schedule fit with yours!
If you’re a traditionally published author or illustrator who would like to be added to the list, you can fill out this form to sign up. The wonderful Judy Campbell-Smith is also coordinating a list of self-published and ebook authors – if that’s you and you’d like to volunteer, please fill out her form here. Once your schedule is full, please send an email via my website contact form, and I’ll remove your name from the list. Please note that due to deadlines and other obligations, it may take up to a week for me to update.