Read Across America is an initiative that was started by the National Education Association (NEA) in 1998 as a way to encourage children to read. It is now a year long program, with a special acknowledgement in March. This year, it falls on March 2.
Here are a few ways you can participate in National Read Across America Day!
Read a Book!
It may sound obvious, but reading is a great way to explore the world without leaving your favorite cozy spot. If you don't know which book to read, stop by your local library and ask a staff member for help finding one!
Tip Your Hat to Dr. Seuss
March 2 is also Dr. Seuss's birthday. Celebrate by reading one of his books or dressing up like one of his characters!
Play with Stories
Every month, the NEA sets a theme for that month. For March, the theme is "Play with Stories." So go ahead and get silly with it! Tell a story to a friend or loved one, act out one of your favorite books, or dress up as a book character. There's no wrong way to play when it comes to the stories we tell.
Read the NEA Books of the Month
Every month, the NEA lists a recommended book for elementary, middle grade, and young adult readers. Here are the recommended books for March 2022.
Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston by Alicia Williams [Elementary]
This vibrant picture book biography follows Zora Neale Hurston’s life from her early fascination with stories, to her struggles to get an education, to her fieldwork in anthropology, to her, at last, reaching the sun, writing books, and sharing stories.
We Belong by Cookie Hiponia Everman [Middle Grade]
In this novel in free verse, half-Filipino, half-white Stella and her younger sister Luna get a bedtime story of a Tagalog myth and their mother Elsie’s immigration to the United States from the Philippines.
With a Star in My Hand: Rubén Darío, Poetry Hero by Margarita Engle [Young Adult]
Based on his autobiography, this novel in verse follows the life of Nicaraguan author Rubén Darío from his abandonment by his mother to his early fame as the Poet Boy of Central America to his growth as an artist and person as he traveled the world.