Read for the Record on Thursday

This Thursday, August 24th, is Jumpstart's Read for the Record day. The idea is to get everyone reading and thinking about books, and to increase children's literacy. Here are the details (from the Jumpstart website):

• "Tens of thousands of adults and young children will read The Little Engine That Could together in their homes, libraries, parent groups, preschool centers and major public venues on August 24 to show support for early learning, engage in the very practice that helps young children thrive, and set a world record.
• A special edition of The Little Engine That Could, custom published by Penguin and generously printed gratis by Pearson, will celebrate Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign and share with you important tips for making the most of reading time with young children. The custom limited edition of The Little Engine That Could is available exclusively at Starbucks from August 1 – 28."

If you're interested, you can register to read The Little Engine That Could (by Watty Piper) with a child on Thursday. Many local libraries will be participating (see stories here and here for just two examples).

UPDATE: You can see a report of a Starbucks visit for this program by Jennifer at Snapshot, and also in the comments of this post. She notes that her local Starbucks manager is considering adding a regular story time, because the response to this program has been so great. Isn't that cool?