What. A. Day.

Today is World Read Aloud Day, and I spent it virtually visiting (via Skype) 15 different classrooms all across the country. I went to Missouri, to Illinois, to Wisconsin, to Illinois again, to New York, back to Illinois (they seem to really like me there!), up to Canada, back down to Michigan, over to New York, on to Iowa, BACK to Illinois (seriously!), and then finally way out west to California.

In every classroom, I did the same thing. Something so simple — but oh so wonderful and oh so very important. I read aloud. That’s it. I cracked open a book and I read it.

Kids who are read to every day benefit enormously from the experience. This has been shown by the academics, and is proven again and again on a daily basis in schools across the country and all over the world. To be able to spend this special day reading aloud to so many kids (by my count, somewhere between 300-400!) is a true honor — and also a tremendous amount of fun.

Thank you to ALL the educators out there who make reading aloud to their students a priority, an essential part of each and every day. And thank you especially to those teachers who invited me into their classrooms to read on this wonderful World Read Aloud Day. I am filled to the brim with gratitude and joy, and feel more inspired than ever to wake up tomorrow morning and continue to do everything I can to make a positive impact on kids’ lives.