Shout it from the rooftops! “We’re geeks and we’re proud!” May 25^th is Geek Pride Day!

In true RIF style, we have a few book selections and activities to keep your celebrations geek-tastic.

Any Star Wars fanatics out there? Check out the Origami Yoda series by Tom Angleberger.

If Professor Charles Xavier were a kid, he’d definitely be in the Mysterious Benedict Society, a series by Trenton Lee Stewart, with plenty of adventure and puzzles to solve along the way. This series speaks to children with special abilities.

And don’t forget Roald Dahl’s classic Matilda, featuring one of the most gifted young geeks in kid lit. Whether you’re reading it to a child in your life or picking it back up after many years, the book makes the perfect companion to Geek Pride Day.

Interested in helping RIF get more books to the tomorrow’s future geek heroes? Be sure to take our pledge declaring yourself a book person. Geek People – er Book People – Unite!

Photo Source: 0xMatheus 

“You can’t be a writer without reading. It’d be like trying to be a chef without ever eating.”—George Ella Lyon

An audience of 65 5th-grade students were treated to the wit and wisdom of author and poet George Ella Lyon today at DC Prep’s Edgewood Middle Campus.

Lyon’s book “All the Water in the World” is featured in RIF’s Multicultural Book Collection, which was also provided to the school. And instead of reading the children her book, Lyon (who is also a singer and songwriter) sang them the book, with the kids leading the chorus.

Lyon talked a lot about the experiences she had as a child and how they led her to becoming a writer, encouraging them to share their own stories with the world. She showed the kids her writing notebooks. And she answered some great questions from a very engaged and gracious crowd.

Then, in true RIF style, students got to pick two books from a large selection of titles. (Nancy Drew and Wayside School books were a big hit.) They wrote their names in their books, sent us off with a big “THANK YOU!” and headed back to their classrooms, with books and summer reading activities in hand.

The event was all part of our partnership this year with the Junior League of Washington (JLW), which reached 6,500 other students in D.C. this week, all taking home two books of their own.  Throughout the year, RIF and JLW have given out more than 33,000 books to kids in underserved communities.  Talk about book people uniting!

Involved with community organization like the Junior League, Lions Club or Kiwanis Club and looking to get involved with RIF in your area? Contact Jennifer Katz, RIF’s director of government relations & community outreach, to learn more.

We had an incredible time in Austin last week, celebrating books with Reading Is Fundamental friends and volunteers.

We kicked off the trip with a wonderful discussion of the book “Miss Lady Bird’s Wildflowers.” Lynda Johnson Robb, a founding board member of RIF, shared her mother’s legacy along with Kathi Appelt and Joy Fisher Hein, who wrote and illustrated the book.

Luci Baines Johnson also praised Lynda’s longtime support of RIF, sharing an especially touching story about their mother as a child.

Miss Lady Bird lost her mother at an early age.  One day, her daddy, seeing she was sad, asked what he could do to help. She said, “No daddy, you can’t help. It’s OK.”

He pressed her more, asking if he could at least try. The child said, “Oh daddy, no, you can’t help. It’s just that I miss momma so much. And momma used to read to me. I really miss momma and reading.”

Her father responded, “Well, honey, I can read to you.”

The child stopped, shocked, and said with surprise, “Daddy, you can read?”

Even at that young age, Miss Lady Bird couldn’t understand why someone who could read wouldn’t be reading all the time.

The legacy of the Johnson family is large in Austin and it was at the LBJ Library that the next event was held. At a Book People Unite celebration, families met authors Chris Barton, Cynthia Leitich Smith and Tim Tingle, who all have books in RIF’s Multicultural Book Collections. Curious George joined the festivities, as did Kay Gooch, one of RIF’s Volunteer of the Year Award recipients. Parents and kids from Kay’s school, Gullett Elementary, and the families from the Book Spring program, which runs the RIF program in the city, had a great time.

The trip was capped off with a very special book distribution at Campbell Elementary School, a school where 94 percent of the children come from economically disadvantaged homes. Children were treated to a special “trip” where they boarded a magical cardboard airplane – complete with window seats and belt buckles – took a flight to pick out their books. Librarian Sherry Rojas and Book Spring’s Jill Gonzalez made it a memorable adventure for the children – and for the RIF staff in who joined them on their journey.

The entire trip was made possible thanks to RIF’s longtime partnership with Macy’s. Stay tuned for ways you can support our partnership this summer!

Photo, left to right: Kay Gooch, Kathi Appelt, Lynda Johnson Robb, Joy Fisher Hein; photo by: Jack Plunkett/AP Images for Reading Is Fundamental

• 250,000 books to children nationwide to take home just before the holidays — united with First Book and others
• 6,500 books to children in D.C. Public Schools just before the holiday break — united with Junior League of Washington
• 1,500 books to children affected by Hurricane Sandy in Queens and Staten Island — united with YMCA of Greater New York and others

Earlier this year, we launched Book People Unite, a campaign to rally support for children’s literacy. Thousands of people have taken the Book People pledge, declaring their belief in the transformative power of books. Your support has helped us:

• Raise $4.8 million during our annual Be Book Smart campaign in Macy’s stores nationwide
• Secure $4.18 million in federal funding to provide books to kids in the summer – a critical time to support their long-term academic achievement
• Honor our troops with literacy celebrations and book giveaways for their families
• Provide literacy training for educator and caregivers in rural and urban communities
• Inspire the next generation of innovators through the launch of our 2013 Multicultural Book Collection centered on Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Math (or STEAM) subjects

With poverty affecting 16 million children today – and two-thirds of children in these homes lacking even a single book to call their own – our work has been more impactful than ever.

Thank you, Book People, for your steadfast support.

There’s so much more to do. We look forward to continuing the journey together. Book People Unite!

Join fellow Book People as we unite to get books to kids most in need. Take the Book Person pledge today at www.bookpeopleunite.org/pledge.

We runners are a reading bunch. I’d say the more a runner runs, the more we read, usually about running.

In fact, if I could read about running while I run, I would. But we runners also tend to be injury prone, keeping even the most avid reader-runners from attempting such a feat. That said, I bet if someone’s done it, Mark Remy, editor-at-large of Runner’s World, has documented it.

Mark Remy, author, blogger, runner and Book Person

Mark is the blogger at Remy’s World and author of three great books on running that don’t take themselves too seriously. His latest, “C is for Chafing,” is a kid-friendly running book illustrated in the old Dick and Jane style.

He’s also the dad of an adorable 2-year-old girl. So in addition to writing and reading about running, he’s reading to his daughter or running after her.

Mark recently answered a few questions for our blog about being a Book Person on the run.

What’s the most bizarre reading-related running story you’ve come across?

There aren’t a lot of stories that fit in that category, but I’d have to say the story I read once about a woman running while reading – or reading while running – in Austin was one of those. It was raining – and it was a paperback.

And I thought audio books were distracting!

How does going out for a run impact your writing?

Running has a huge impact on my writing, on at least two levels.

One, I often have ideas during a run for stuff I’ll write later. Sometimes these ideas come in a direct, obvious way, when I see or hear something that I think is interesting. Like that run where I ran across a flock of cardinals and was struck by the silence of running.

Other times, the ideas just sort of bubble up from my subconscious or Lord-knows-where. I “wrote” a lot of my first two books this way, on solo long runs. On really productive runs, I’d come up with five or six ideas I might like to use, and then I’d have to invent these ridiculous mnemonic tricks to remember them all until I could get home and write them down. (I don’t run with a phone or voice recorder or anything.)

And two, more generally, running just clears my head and leaves me fresh and recharged when I return and sit down to write. That’s a big deal, because when I’m foggy I’m useless. Running lifts the fog.

That might sound paradoxical — running sparks ideas, running clears my head — but that’s how it works, for me anyway. Much like writing, running can be a mysterious and surprising thing. Which is one reason I enjoy it.

Any children’s books involving running you’d recommend to a new parent (aside from ‘C is for Chafing,’ which is obviously a given)?

Well, “The Gingerbread Man” is a classic, of course, with a valuable lesson. The lesson being that while running fast can be fun, you shouldn’t be cocky about it or you might be devoured by a fox. (As I concluded in my own adaptation of “The Gingerbread Man” for runners.)

“The Little Engine That Could” doesn’t involve running, per se, but man! What a valuable message for runners, of all ages: Don’t give up, keep pushing, you can do it.

Then there’s “The Tortoise and the Hare,” but that’s more a fable than a “children’s book,” isn’t it? Also sort of obvious.

You read a lot for work. But I bet you enjoy reading the most with your daughter. What’s your best book experience with Bea?

I’ve been reading to my daughter since before she was born — yes, through her mom’s tummy — and you’re right that it’s my favorite sort of reading. It’s tough to name a single “best book experience” with her, but if I have to choose, I’ll say the best (so far) was when she held a book toward me and said, for the first time ever, “Daddy read?”

Here at RIF, we’re uniting Book People like you in a movement to raise awareness about children’s literacy and get books to kids who need them most. What does being a Book Person mean to you?

To me, being a Book Person means knowing that you can’t possibly read all of the terrific books in the world… but still wanting to try.

For more on Mark’s writing, visit MarkRemy.com  and follow the Remy’s World blog at Runnersworld.com.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Tammy M. of Lubbock, TX! Tammy is the winner of the Book People Unite book giveaway and will receive a set of signed copies of Mark Remy’s three books. For all of you Book People who haven’t pledged yet, the contest is over but you can still pledge! Just visit BookPeopleUnite.org/Pledge. Book People Unite!

Best known for his incredible acting in films like Hotel Rwanda and Crash, Cheadle is also a friend to RIF and many other causes. Tonight, learn more about his work and other celebrities using their platforms for good by tuning in tonight to VH1′s 2012 Do Something! Awards. Cheadle, who leads the cast of Showtime’s standout House of Lies, was nominated in the TV star category.

You don’t have to be a star to do something. Visit our site to take the pledge and tweet out your own support for the campaign. Book People Unite!

“Book People Unite” Full-Length – Song Lyrics

Come one come all – CONSEQUENCE
We’re inviting ya’ll
Book People Unite
Yes it’s time to get involved

Come one come all – CONSEQUENCE
We’re inviting ya’ll
Book People Unite
Yes it’s time to get involved

Can you pretend with me – JASON SCHWARTZMAN
Imagine what you’d see
If every child had a book to read

Cause every kid across the nation – REGINA SPEKTOR
deserves a book to read
and we can make it happen right now

Now I don’t know what you’ve been told- NATE RUESS
but kids with books learn so much more
So the mission is for us – JACK BLACK
To get a book to each and every child
(Reading Is Fundamental) – MAKENZIE DUSTMAN

So let’s join hands Book People Unite – JIM JAMES
Unearth hidden passion – MELANIE FIONA
Come on we’ll have a good time – MELANIE FIONA/JOHN LEGEND

Planting seeds of inspiration – ASHLEIGH FLYNN
To motivate some magic
To change the writing on the wall – JACK BLACK
Writing on the wall…JACK BLACK/CHRIS MARTIN

One book can make a difference – NATE RUESS/JOHN LEGEND/JIM JAMES
One book can inspire a child (writing on the wall) – CHRIS MARTIN
One book can be the fundamental thing (Reading Is Fundamental) – NATE/JOHN/JIM JAMES/MELANIE/REGINA
That helps to change a life
Book People Unite-NATE/JIM/MELANIE/REGINA/CARRIE/CONSEQUENCE

So here’s why we got to come together – JOHN LEGEND
and put some action to the call
put some books into their hands – MAKENZIE DUSTMAN
and change the future for good

Now I don’t know what you’ve been told – MOSSI
but kids that read books learn so much more – NATE RUESS
and the mission is for us to get a book to each and every child – MELANIE FIONA
Reading Is Fundamental – MAKENZIE DUSTMAN

So let’s join hands Book People Unite – JIM JAMES
Unearth hidden passion – MELANIE FIONA
Come on we’ll have a good time – MELANIE FIONA/JOHN LEGEND

Planting seeds of inspiration – ASHLEIGH FLYNN
To motivate some magic
To change the writing on the wall – JACK BLACK
Writing on the wall…JACK BLACK/CHRIS MARTIN

One book can make a difference – SAME AS LAST CHORUS
One book can inspire a child (writing on the wall)
One book can be the fundamental thing (reading’s fundamental)
That helps to change a life
Book People Unite

It’s a proven fact – JIM JAMES/ASHLEIGH FLYNN
When a kid grows up
with a book in his hands they end up learning more (writing on the wall) – CHRIS MARTIN

It’s a proven fact – JOHN LEGEND
When a kid grows up
with a book in his hands they end up learning more (writing on the wall) – CHRIS MARTIN

One book can be the fundamental thing – SAME ENDING AS OTHER CHORUSES
That helps to change
Book People Unite

With all this list discussion, it got me thinking …

Imagine a best-seller list for the issues that matter most.

We see versions of this every Election Year – jobs, the economy, education, health care. But what about something so basic but so necessary that by simply focusing on it we would see dramatic improvements in all of the other issues?

What about literacy?

Consider this…In low-income neighborhoods in the United States, there is only 1 book for every 300 children. Sadly, a child without books is on their way to becoming …

• 1 of 33 percent of 4^th graders who cannot read at the basic level
• 1 of the 7,000 students who drop out of high school every school day
• 1 of the 40 million adults who cannot read

There are 16 million children living in poverty in this country. That means millions of children are growing up without one of the most essential tools for learning and growing.

Imagine putting literacy first.

Imagine a nation where all children have the books and literacy support they need to write their best life story. Where a greater number of students earn diplomas. Where our workforce is larger, smarter and more innovative. Where all communities are thriving.

A literate America is a drastically different America than the one we see today. And it all starts with a book.

Today, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is launching Book People Unite – a campaign to shine a national spotlight on children’s literacy.

Our goal is bold but simple – to unite a community of people who believe in the transformative power of books and will join RIF in getting books to kids who need them most.

Will you join us?  Watch our new PSA and take the pledge.

Book People Unite!