The Snowy Day is Chosen as Official 2010 Read for the Record Book!

Thousands of Americans have shown their ongoing commitment to ending the crisis in early literacy by picking up their cell phones and voting for Jumpstart’s Read for the Record’s official campaign book. Today, we announced, along with Jumpstart and the Penguin Young Readers Group, that The Snowy Day by Ezra John Keats has been selected as the official book to be read by millions on Thursday, October 7, 2010.

To learn more, please visit:

http://www.pearsoned.com/press/2010/03/11/america-chooses-the-snowy-day-as-campaign-book-for-jumpstarts-read-for-the-record-2010.htm

Jane Goodall to Receive Atlas Award

We learned earlier that Jane Goodall would be receiving the prestigious Atlas award from the Association of American Geographers, and it couldn't go to someone more deserving. Our work with the Jane Goodall Institute has given us a deeper understanding of this amazing individual, and we're thrilled for her and for JGI.The Atlas Award is designed to recognize and celebrate outstanding accomplishments that advance world understanding in exceptional ways, and the image of Atlas bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders is a powerful metaphor for this award program; nominees are those who have taken the weight of the world on their shoulders and moved it forward, whether in science, politics, scholarship, the arts, or in war and peace.

To learn more, please visit:http://www.aag.org/annualmeetings/2010/speakers/goodall.htm

Calistoga Students Collecting Pennies for Haiti

The Pennies for Peace movement continues to gather momentum, and in this instance, it's stretching all the way from Calistoga, California to Haiti. Following in the footsteps of so many children before them who have collected tens of thousands of pennies for children in Afghanistan, young people from Calistoga Elementary School established February as "Pennies for Haiti Month" and have been collecting pennies for those who need them ever since.  

To learn more about this heart-warming and inspirational story, visit http://www.weeklycalistogan.com/articles/2010/03/04/news/local/doc4b8efa5c5d900994765037.txt

The Digital World of Young Children

At the annual Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) International Symposium, we released a research white paper today called “The Digital World of Young Children: Emergent Literacy,” which discusses the effects of digital media on young children’s learning. Authored by early childhood education experts, Arizona State University’s Jay Blanchard and Terry Moore, the white paper examines the latest research on how young children learn using increasingly personalized and mobile media, including cell phones, television, video games, smart devices, and computers. The report focuses on the impact of these new ways of learning and highlights the degree to which these emergent literacies are rooted in young people’s use of common-place mobile devices - especially in developing and least-developed nations.

Want to learn more?  Check it out here:http://www.pearsoned.com/press/2010/03/01/pearson-foundation-releases-new-research-on-digital-literacy-among-young-children.htm

Declaration of Independence on Display in Arizona

As you may already know, The Declaration of Independence exhibit we're supporting is currently making its way across the country and is currently at the state capital of Arizona, where it's receiving a great deal of fanfare and viewings.  The exhibit is made possible by a partnership between the Arizona Secretary of State's Office, Arizona Capitol Museum, National Student/Parent Mock Election, Pearson Foundation and Declare Yourself.

To read an article featured on Phoenix's ABC affiliate Website, please visit: http://www.abc15.com/content/news/phoenixmetro/central/story/Declaration-of-Independence-on-display-at-Arizona/UpbMwb8xo0upbIO7jirAQg.cspx

Bush Family Helps Raise $1.6 Million for Reading Event

President George H.W. Bush, son Jeb, and others from the Bush family provided their support for a Celebration of Reading event held in Estero, Florida last week, helping guide it to success. The Celebration of Reading, now in its tenth year, benefits the Family Literacy Initiative, which funds reading initiatives and helps place books in the hands of families that can scarcely afford them. Other notable figures in attendance included Sharon Robinson, daughter of Jackie Robinson, to best-selling suspense author Mary Higgins Clark, who published her first novel while working full-time and her daughter was still in college. Her daughter, Carol Higgins Clark, now a novelist of her own renown, was also featured. 

To read a feature story and to watch a short video on this successful event, please visit: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/feb/12/george-hw-bush-jeb-celebrate-reading-estero/

Cast Your Vote for Read for the Record

Along with Jumpstart, we're initiating an online/mobile voting campaign that invites the public to vote for the official campaign book for this year’s Jumpstart’s Read for the Record. The winning book that receives the most votes will be announced in March and will become the centerpiece of Jumpstart’s fifth annual record-breaking campaign that helps combat the crisis in early literacy. We'll post the link to the campaign as soon as it's live!

To learn more, visit:

http://technorati.com/lifestyle/family/article/read-for-the-record/

Three Cups of Tea Makes Houston's KRIV News

Three Cups of Tea author and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Greg Mortenson was in Houston visiting the AWTY international school and was interviewed on a number of television stations, including Fox 26.  His efforts continue to make a remarkable difference in the lives of young children around the world, as there are now greater than 8 million children in school in Afghanistan versus a million a decade ago.

To view a short clip from KRVI, visit
 http://www.criticalmention.com/ctv3-1/landing_email.php?type=email&video=true&random_string=7120f9ba0e7fafca4efcd0a463cd3620
and click the top left blue link that reads, "Click here to play clip".