Read Across America Week

CLINTON CENTER EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS

Launched in 1998 by the National Education Association (NEA) and guided by a committee of educators, NEA’s Read Across America is the nation’s largest celebration of reading. Join us at Clinton Presidential Center for a week-long celebration of diverse characters and innovative stories read by special guests. Each day, we will read a different story featuring inclusive themes and characters. This year we will read: 

• February 27 – Finding the Music / En pos de la música by Jennifer Torres  
  • When Reyna accidentally breaks her grandfather’s vihuela, she seeks help in her neighborhood to repair it and discovers his legacy in the community as a mariachi player.
  • Recommended Grade Range: 1st – 5th
    

• March 1 – Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
  • After seeing three women spectacularly dressed up as mermaids, Julián makes his own mermaid costume from Abuela’s curtain and potted fern. What will she think of the mess—and of Julián the mermaid?
  • Recommended Grade Range: Pre-K – 3rd

• March 2 – Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliot
  • There are two rules when it comes to baby dragons: 1. Don’t let them out of the bag, 2. Whatever you do, DON’T feed them anything sweet! Jaxon really doesn’t want to spend the day with the mean old lady everyone calls Ma – until he finds out she’s a witch!  She needs Jaxon’s help to move three baby dragons out of Brooklyn and into a magical world where they can survive.  Before he knows it, Jax and his friends have broken the only two rules Ma gave him about dragons. (Keeping them in the bag was not as easy as it sounded!)  Will Jax deliver the baby dragons safe and sound?  Or will they be lost in Brooklyn forever?
  • Recommended Grade Range: 4th – 5th
    

• March 3 – Don’t Let Them Disappear by Chelsea Clinton
  • Did you know that blue whales are the largest animals in the world? Or that sea otters wash their paws after every meal? The world is filled with millions of animal species, and all of them are unique and special. Many are on the path to extinction.  In this book, Chelsea Clinton introduces young readers to a selection of endangered animals, sharing what makes them special, and also what threatens them. Taking readers through the course of a day, Don’t Let Them Disappear talks about rhinos, tigers, whales, pandas and more, and provides helpful tips on what we all can do to help prevent these animals from disappearing from our world entirely.
  • Recommended Grade Range: K – 3rd