The Kauai Children’s Authors
Guild in partnership with the Storybook Theatre of Hawaii will be holding their
annual Read Across Kauai Literacy Day event on February 27th, 2015. However,
because of the large number of children that will be read to this year, the
event will be extended from February 15-April 15, to allow schools
and libraries to schedule local authors to come visit their classrooms and
reading groups.
To complement Read Across
Kauai Day, a special storytelling event will also be held at the Storybook
Theatre on Wednesday, February 25th at 10:30 am. This event will
take place in the Peace Garden Amphitheatre and will feature local authors and
storytellers. The event will also be filmed as an episode of the Russell the
Rooster show. This event will cater to younger toddler and preschool-age
audiences that won’t be able to attend school performances.
This year’s theme for Read
Across Kauai Day is environmental literacy. Many of the local authors have written
books about Hawaiian wildlife and its importance to us here on Kauai. In fact,
author Susan Dierker’s new book, Albatross
of Kauai, the Story of Kaloakulua, teaches children about Kauai’s albatross
from hatchling to fledgling. Thanks to generous donation from the Betlach
Family Foundation, hundreds of children on Kauai will be receiving a copy of
this book, during the Read Across Kauai Day event.
Last year, members of the
Kauai Children’s Authors Guild made appearances in schools to promote the
importance of literacy and read to more than 400 hundred children across the
Garden Island. This year, the guild expects the numbers to double.
The Read Across Kauai Day event
was modeled after the national event, Read Across America Day, but guild
members recognized that Kauai is uniquely special place so they designed Read
Across Kauai Day to be a little more personal, a little more “Kauai Style”. The
event provides an opportunity for children to interact with local authors and establish
a personal connections with the books that are read to them. The authors also
share their experiences about writing and publishing books in order to inspire
children to become better writers. The guild members hope to reinforce the
importance of reading by encouraging creativity through writing and artistic
expression.
One of the most valuable components
of the project is the distribution of an information sheet that is sent home to
parents about the importance of reading aloud to their children. Since Read
Across Kauai Day was devoted to literacy, guild members wanted to make sure
that this significant information be disseminated to the children’s parents.
For more information about Read
Across Kauai Day, visit Kauaichildrensauthors.blogspot.com or
To participate in the
Storybook Theatre event, please call for reservations (808)335-0712,
office@storybook.org.
