Reading is a fantastic way to open your minds and hearts to new people, places, and ideas. Through reading, I ve met new friends, learned new facts, and become a better person. Gene Luen Yang, New York Times bestselling and National Book Award Finalist author of American Born Chinese Former National Ambassador for Young People s Literature Gene Luen Yang calls us all to READ WITHOUT WALLS, exploring books about characters who look or live differently than you, topics you haven t discovered, or formats that you haven t tried. READING WITHOUT WALLS will promote diversity and open readers eyes to new ideas and experiences. READING WITHOUT WALLS is an inclusive way to spread appreciation and understanding for others and to learn new and exciting things. Anyone can participate in READING WITHOUT WALLS teachers, librarians, booksellers, and readers. Just find something new and different to read and let books open up the world around you. What can YOU do to read without walls? Whether you re a bookseller, librarian, teacher, parent, or reader, you can read without walls! The activities in this guide can be adapted for multiple age ranges and adjusted to work best for your audience. Visit readingwithoutwalls.com for even more suggestions and materials. Join in the celebration of READING WITHOUT WALLS www.readingwithoutwalls.com
Host your own READING WITHOUT WALLS Event! Interested in planning your own READING WITHOUT WALLS event? We ve included some tips below to help you get started. SET THE SCENE! Create a display using the poster, standee, books and other fun props. INVITE! Encourage readers to join the celebration and invite a local author or illustrator to participate at your READING WITHOUT WALLS event. BREAK THE ICE! Kick off the event with a fun icebreaker from this guide to help start the conversation. CRAFT! Use the activities provided in the guide to get the group started on fun craft and writing activities. BOOKS! We re challenging young readers to read outside of their comfort zone and have pulled together a reading list to help get them started at /books. SHARE! Share photos from your event using #readingwithoutwalls and tag us on twitter @MacKidsBooks and instagram @macmillankidsbooks! Go to ReadingWithoutsWalls.com/register to add your name to the list of participating locations.
Reader Recommendations Activity Event Leader: Encourage participants to read a book they might not normally pick up! Ask each young reader to write down the name of a book that they recently read and loved. Collect the recommendations and at the end of the READING WITHOUT WALLS event participants will pick these recommendations out of a hat or bucket to see what other kids like reading!!
Human Scavenger Hunt Activity Instructions: Find another participant who has read a book that matches the category on the card below. Ask the participant to write the title of the book and put his/her initials in the box. A graphic novel A poetry book A nonfiction science book A biography A book with illustrations A historical fiction book A book with a setting that does NOT take place in the United States A mystery A book with one or more LGBT character A book that talks about a character s religion A book with a character who lives in a city A book with a character who lives in the countryside A book about sports A book taking place in a dystopian setting A book that has a character with a physical disability A book that has a character with a mental disability
Act It Out! Event Leader: Prepare for a game of reading-inspired charades! You ll learn the name of a book and have to act it out. You can use props and give hints but don t give away the title. This is a great way to introduce readers to the names of books they might not have heard of! Write book titles on slips of paper and drop them into a hat. Select one slip of paper and act out the book title. No talking allowed! The first person to guess the title gets a point.! Act out this book title Act out this book title Act out this book title Act out this book title Act out this book title Act out this book title
Learn a New Language! Learn how to say I am a reader in some of the most popular languages from around the world! Mandarin 我是一位阅读者 (Wǒ shì yī wèi yuèdú zhě) Spanish Yo soy un lector (ʝo soi un lek tor) Hindi म झ क त ब पढ न पस द ह (Mujhe kitabe(n) parna pass for hai) Arabic (Annah Kari) Portuguese Eu sou um leitor (Ew s o um layt or) Bengali আম প ঠক (Āmi pāṭhaka) Russian Я читатель (YA chitatel) Japanese 私は読者です (Watashi wa dokushadesu) German Ich bin ein Leser (Ịch bịn ein Leser)
Writing Without Walls It s time for you to put pen to paper and try writing without walls! Write your own story based on one of these fun story starters. Story Starter: Fiction Imagine you re transported to another planet. Write about what you see in front of you.
Writing Without Walls It s time for you to put pen to paper and try writing without walls! Write your own story based on one of these fun story starters. Story Starter: Nonfiction Choose a famous person from history. What facts do you know about them? Write about an exciting day in their life.
Writing Without Walls It s time for you to put pen to paper and try writing without walls! Write your own story based on one of these fun story starters. Story Starter: Poetry You re a poet and you don t even know it! See if you can write a ten-line poem!
Writing Without Walls It s time for you to put pen to paper and try writing without walls! Write your own story based on one of these fun story starters. Story Starter: Graphic Novel We ve given you a nine-panel comic strip below. Now draw an adventure and don t forget to include speech bubbles!
R EADI NG WI THOUT READING W ITHOU T W A LLS CER TIF I C A TE O F EXC E LLE N C E This award is presented to for reading a book about someone who doesn t look or live like them a book about an unfamiliar topic a book in an unfamiliar format Teacher/Librarian Signature Date children s publishing group