Contacts:
Alexandra Wladich, Scholastic, 212-965-7353, awladich@scholastic.com
Mike Barrett, Scholastic, 212-343-6570, mbarrett@scholastic.com

NEW YORK – March 15, 2017 – Recent research from the Kids & Family Reading Report™: 6th Edition, released by Scholastic, found that 80% of children ages 6–17 agree that summer reading will help them during the school year. To ensure more children are reading over the summer months, Scholastic is expanding its free, global, online and mobile summer reading program, the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge™, to serve schools and families across the globe and, for the first time, invites U.S. public libraries and community partner organizations to join in the effort.

To learn more: visit www.scholastic.com/summer.

Now in its 11th year, the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge is designed to help kids turn the “summer slide”—the learning loss which can occur over the summer months—into a “summer leap” by discovering the power and joy of reading for fun. This year’s theme is “Happy Camper: Take a Reading Adventure,” which comes to life on the website with custom Dog Man illustrations from bestselling Captain Underpants creator and Summer Reading Global Ambassador Dav Pilkey, and other beloved Scholastic character illustrations, including Clifford the Big Red Dog®, Harry Potter, Geronimo Stilton and Ms. Frizzle.

Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge 2017 Dates:

• March 15th–April 14th: Dav Pilkey Summer Reading Educator Contest
  Dav Pilkey together with Scholastic, will host an educator contest for one school in each U.S. state, territory and in the District of Columbia to win free books for their school. Learn more and enter, here: www.scholastic.com/summer.
• April 3rd: Educator, Library and Community Partner Pre-Registration
  Educators, libraries and community partners can pre-register participating student groups for the Summer Reading Challenge and access free summer reading resources and booklists across all ages in both English and Spanish.
• May 8th–September 8th: Log Your Reading Minutes
  Kids can log their reading minutes online to earn digital prizes when they complete weekly reading challenges and gain access to 18 reading activities, including games, quizzes and videos based on popular children’s books. Parents and caregivers can access free summer reading resources, including booklists across all ages in both English and Spanish.
• May 6–July 26: Summer Reading Road Trip
  Two Scholastic Summer Reading Road Trip RVs are hitting the road to visit bookstores, schools and libraries across the country. Kids and families can visit the “pop-up” reading community events, meet some of their favorite authors and illustrators, and engage in fun reading activities. Parents and educators can follow the progress of the Scholastic Summer Reading Road Trip on social media via #SummerReading and online at readingroadtrip.scholastic.com.
• September 27th: “Best in State” and Library and Community Partner Recognition
  At the close of the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, the school in each state with the most minutes read will be recognized as “Best in State” and will receive a special kit that includes a school plaque, congratulatory banner, student certificates and other items that can be used to host a literacy celebration. The winning schools will also be featured in the 2018 Scholastic Book of World Records. In addition, special recognition will be given to the top five libraries and community partner organizations nationwide with the most minutes read.

QUOTES:

Dav Pilkey, Caldecott Honor artist and creator of the bestselling Captain Underpants and Dog Man series:

“As a reluctant reader growing up, I’ve experienced firsthand the power and impact of being able to choose the books I wanted to read as a kid, without judgment. We all know that reading is important, but there’s a certain kind of reading that is life-changing: reading for fun. Studies have shown the benefits of making a habit out of reading for fun—not only does it help our brains stay sharp over summer vacation, but it also makes us more empathetic. This is not only life-changing, but also world-changing.”

Michael Haggen, Chief Academic Officer, Scholastic Education:

“The most recent Kids & Family Reading Report found that, contrary to popular belief, kids enjoy summer reading—but too many kids read no books at all during the summer, putting themselves at risk to experience significant learning loss while school is not in session. We also know that the encouragement of parents and educators is key to motivating students to read all summer. Through the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, schools, families and students find the resources they need to help turn the “summer slide” into the “summer leap.”

(Click the image below to open a hi-res version in a new window)

To learn more about Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL) and the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, please visit mediaroom.scholastic.com/SummerReadingChallenge.