JUNE 23, 2020 – Toronto – This week marks the start of Read On Canada!, an exciting initiative from a coalition of reading advocates and Food Banks Canada, supported by the generous donation of books from Canadian publishers (see list below). The Read On Canada! initiative is making more than 130,000 books available to families through food bank partners and sharing fun activities online at ReadOnCanada.ca. The goal is to inspire all children to “read on” as the school year officially comes to an end and the pandemic stretches into summer.
Read On Canada! was created to mitigate the effects of the “summer slide,” a drop in reading ability which can happen over the summer months, particularly among children who do not have opportunities to read during the school break. This year, the slide is expected by some educators to be a “summer avalanche” given the long disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These disruptions affect all children, including babies and pre-schoolers, with pandemic-related closures of libraries, daycares, and community programs.
“Too many children in Canada are heading into summer with limited access to reading materials,” said Ariel Siller, CEO of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation, coordinating partner of the Read On Canada! coalition. “We launched Read On Canada! to help address that, providing books and reading activities to families with children from birth through to age ten so they can find joy, comfort, and enrichment in the power of words during these challenging times.”
All Canadians are encouraged to join the Read On Canada! movement by reading with a child they love and visiting ReadOnCanada.ca to check out the growing collection of fun reading activities for families. You can also show your support on social media by declaring that you are “reading on” this summer, using the hashtag #ReadOnCanada. Check out how astronaut Chris Hadfield has joined the movement here.
The Read On Canada! coalition came together around a shared view that reading with children, starting from their earliest days, and supporting them to “read on” is an important way to help them reach their full potential in school and throughout life. Age-appropriate, engaging reading materials are crucial to helping children develop the skills they need to thrive emotionally and academically. Strong reading skills are strongly linked to children becoming healthier, more socially engaged and more productive adults.
“This summer, many families struggling with food insecurity will get the gift of hope in a food hamper,” says Chris Hatch, CEO of Food Banks Canada. “Because of our partnership with Read On Canada!, not only will families with children receive much-needed food supplies, but each child will also receive a book, which has the ability to open up a world of possibilities. They will know that someone cares, not only for their physical well-being, but for their development as well.”
Read On Canada! is made possible by an ever-growing coalition of advocates, including:
- Steering Committee: ABC Life Literacy Canada, Calgary Reads, The Children’s Book Bank, Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, First Book Canada, Frontier College, The Indigo Love of Reading Foundation, and Let’s Talk Science
- Coordinating Partner: Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation
- Book Partners: Annick Press, Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s TD Grade One Book Giveaway, Disney Book Group, First Book Canada, Friesens, Hachette Book Group, Harper Collins, The Indigo Love of Reading Foundation, Penguin Random House Canada, Scholastic Canada, Soleil de Minuit, and Trucks for Change
- Content Partners: ABC Life Literacy Canada, Calgary Reads, The Children’s Book Bank, Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation, Centre for the Study of Learning & Performance at Concordia University, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Early Literacy Alliance of Waterloo Region, Frontier College, Let’s Talk Science, The Reading Partnership, Read to Me, and Storybooks Canada, University of British Columbia
- Distribution Partners: Food Banks Canada and the participating food banks
Further information about children and reading:
- A child’s reading journey starts at birth when families create language-rich environments, through speaking, singing and reading together, that build their children’s brains.
- It is never too early to start building a child’s literacy skills and igniting a love of reading. It is predicted that children who are read to at least once a day will hear 290,000 more words by age five than those who aren’t read to by a parent or caregiver.
- Even pre-pandemic, approximately 25% of children in Canada were not reading at their grade level by Grade 3. Experts are concerned that this will only get worse due to the pandemic disruptions.
- Canada scores 18th in the most recent Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), a global ranking of Grade 4 readers. This is a significant drop from Canada’s previous score of 12th, as part of a longer downward trend.
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Media contact:
Omar Siddiqui
Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation
647-493-5013
osiddiqui@childrensliteracy.ca