Penguin Random House | New York, 03/30/2020

Reading And Learning To Read Despite The Coronavirus

Penguin Young Readers and Random House Children’s Group, together with “Parents” magazine and the nonprofit First Books, are bringing forward their “Read Together. Be Together” campaign. The idea is to stimulate children’s desire to read during the coronavirus pandemic while also satisfying their appetite for books. The publishers are donating 750,000 books to this campaign.

Originally, the children’s book publishers Penguin Young Readers and Random House Children’s Group, together with “Parents” magazine were slated to launch their big “Read Together. Be Together” reading campaign this summer. But in light of the coronavirus epidemic, the three partners have decided to bring the launch forward to this week – because especially in times of people working from home office, curfews, closed schools and kindergartens, many parents have more time than usual to read to their children, and that is precisely what “Read Together. Be Together” aims to promote. Many bestselling authors, illustrators, and celebrity readers have made themselves available for the nationwide online campaign. In the first week alone, online readings by Misty Copeland, Danica McKellar, Tiffani Thiessen, Brady Smith, Scott Kelly, and B. J. Novak are on the program. The campaign website also features a host of reading (out loud) recommendations compiled by the “Parents” editorial team. Penguin Random House is donating 750,000 children’s books for children in need to the campaign through its long-term partner First Book.

Barbara Marcus, President & Publisher, Random House Children’s Books, and Jen Loja, President & Publisher, Penguin Young Readers, said, “We’re very proud to be partnering with ‘Parents’ magazine on such an important initiative, particularly at a time when there is a great need for resources to help caregivers foster reading within the home. Parents and guardians play a crucial role in our mission to create lifelong readers, and we are excited about this new program to support them. We’re also eager to work with our authors and illustrators on connecting with readers virtually during this time.”

“Now more than ever, reading together is a comforting way to connect with our kids,” says Julia Edelstein, Editor-in-Chief of “Parents” magazine. “Books can transport them to different worlds, spark their curiosity, and make them laugh. Kyle Zimmer, President, CEO and Co-Founder of First Book, adds: “We are so happy to be working on this wonderful and important campaign to encourage family reading. We know from experience that kids having books and story time at home helps create a sense of normalcy that is sorely needed in the midst of this crisis. First Book is working to ensure that kids in need across the country have books at home during this time while most are out of school. Thanks to the generosity of our publishing partners like Random House Children’s Books and Penguin Young Readers, we have 7 million free books to distribute to those who need them most.”