Verlagsgruppe Random House Donates More Than 500 Books To Ronald McDonald Haus Essen

Uneven floors, green roofs, spiral staircases, colorful columns, yellow and bright red walls and golden cupolas – the new Ronald McDonald Haus, the “Hundertwasser House” in Essen's Gruga Park, looks like something out of a fairy tale. Now, with a generous donation of books, Verlagsgruppe Random House is making sure that the seriously ill children who go there to live with their families can read many fantastic stories to match their fantastic home.

Starting with illustrated books such as "The Little Dragon Coconut" to popular fantasy stories like "Bartimäus" and current bestsellers, the publishing group has provided more than 500 titles that now form the foundation for a library in the house, which offers a refuge for seriously ill children and their families while they are receiving treatment in the nearby university hospital. Not only have the employees of the children's and youth book publisher CBJ turned to their own catalogue for books to donate, but they also asked their colleagues from other publishers to contribute recent and backlist books from their stock. "This is a joint project by the entire group. When Ronald McDonald Haus contacted us at the beginning of the year, everybody was ready to pitch in to help realize the project, which we consider a beautiful and important cause," said Renate Grubert, in charge of PR for CBJ.

The shelves of the library in Essen's Hundertwasser House quickly filled up. Many paperbacks, which are especially attractive for young readers, but also numerous high-quality hardcover editions are now available for curious bookworms to enjoy. Young readers can look forward to comprehensive illustrated book and reading programs, more advanced readers to series like Lesestar and Lessternchen, and teenagers and their parents to fiction, reference books, and lexicons. The only thing the small library does not include is somber and problematic reading material. "The families who come to the Hundertwasser House have enough serious issues to deal with. The house is there to offer them an oasis of relaxation far removed from their emotional stress. The library wants to make a contribution to that with its selection of enjoyable books," commented Angelika Geese-Heinemann of Verlagsgruppe Random House. In the future, the Random House employees want to regularly update and expand the library. In addition, the publishers would like to bring even more life to the Hundertwasser House with readings given by various authors.