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Top 10 Seuss Books from Our Supporters

To celebrate the upcoming birthday of the iconic children’s book legend, Dr. Seuss, we polled our supporters to find out their favorite Seuss books. Here are their top 10 picks!

We’ve included links to purchase all of these titles through Amazon, but if you do that, be sure to go on Amazon Smile first and select Read Aloud WV as your charity of choice, so some of your purchase goes back to support literacy in West Virginia!

1.Green Eggs and Ham

“Green Eggs and Ham was always one of my favorites as well as my mother and sister’s. My Mom has always loved reading it in elementary school classrooms when she was a Read Aloud reader. It was such a favorite my sister read it aloud to our great nieces during the funeral service for our mother.”

Lynne Moffitt of Martinsburg

2. Oh, The Places You’ll Go

3. The Lorax

Lisa Bennett Kitterman told us that asking her to pick a favorite “really is an unfair question,” but in the end, she chose The Lorax.

4. Fox in Socks

5. Horton Hears a Who

6. The Butter Battle Book

7. The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

8. There’s a Wocket in My Pocket

Trudy Acord of Winfield shared that There’s a Wocket in My Pocket “was one of Q’s [her son’s] favorites!” Christy Schwartz, also of Winfield, said that it was also a favorite of her daughter!

9. The Sneetches and Other Stories

10. Are You My Mother?

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UPS Store Inc. awards Read Aloud WV $10,000 worth of books

The UPS Store, Inc. named Read Aloud West Virginia as one of 10 non-profit organizations across the country to each receive $10,000 worth of books to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Toys for Tots® Literacy Program, which promotes children’s literacy in low-income and disadvantaged communities across the United States.

The UPS Store, Inc. will donate $10,000 worth of books from Scholastic.

The UPS Store, Inc. invited the public to nominate qualifying charitable and philanthropic groups, receiving over 1,000 submissions. Kanawha County volunteer Lesley McCallister nominated Read Aloud.

A selection committee reviewed all nominations and chose the 10 recipients based on their mission to serving children in underserved communities, especially by providing educational resources and enrichment.

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Letter: Smiles, hugs and thanks

 

Good afternoon,

Attached, please find a collage of several drawings from the sixth grade students where our daughter teaches at Robert L. Bland Middle School in Weston, Lewis County.
I read there once a week, and they know how much I enjoy artwork. I love The Indian in the Cupboard and hand out plastic cowboys and Indians about halfway through the book and tell them that, all they are missing is the cupboard.
You can see the little wheels turning. I love to stimulate the imagination — what if…?
What a rich history our country has – and life’s lessons that go along with it.

I also read in three  pre-K classes with Upshur County Head Start in Buckhannon, including one which my wife teaches.
The smiles and hugs are the most wonderful rewards.

Thanks and best wishes,

Donald W. “Woody” Martin, II
French Creek

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Resolve to Read

Demand is growing. We have more than 400 classrooms across West Virginia who want a Read Aloud reader but don’t yet have one. Can you, your workplace or your organization help us meet that demand to motivate children to WANT to read?

Parents and teachers are making the connection that research shows: Children who read for fun tend to read more, and with that practice, they grow more proficient. This affordable, achievable daily habit pays off throughout school and life.

So, our job as adults is to create that thriving environment for children, where we turn to a book for fun, entertainment, even comfort. One way Read Aloud West Virginia helps children to catch this habit is by modeling reading for fun each week. Read Aloud sends volunteer readers into more than 1,400 classrooms  each week to share their love of a good story.

We’re happy to report that demand is growing. We have more than 400 teachers who want one of our readers but don’t yet have one. So here’s the pitch:

1. If you are currently reading in one class and your schedule could handle a second, please let us know. There might be a classroom down the hall that would love to have you.  It could be that for the same preparation, you could have double the impact.

2. If you’re enjoying reading, consider recommending Read Aloud to a friend or colleague. Have them send us their contact details, and we will notify them of the next orientation.

3. Consider arranging an orientation. If you can gather 10 or more people at your workplace, church group, book club, college or other organization, we will come to you. After an informative, motivating orientation, we are often able to match readers with classrooms on the spot.

Our volunteer readers go out to do good and help others, but they regularly come back with stories about making connections that they never dreamed of.

In January, we want to fill those vacancies. We want to help those teachers help their students find the right book that opens new worlds for them. Will you Resolve to Read with us? Give us a call at 304-345-5212 or email us stateoffice@readaloudwestvirginia.org .

Happy New Year

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Moments of kindness — My Read Aloud story

Read Aloud volunteers see children engage with books and expand their vocabularies and literacy skills, and so much more.

By Jennifer Bonnette Funk

What might seem like a small act of kindness at first can turn out to have a big and positive impact on someone’s world.

Each week on my day off, I read aloud as part of Read Aloud West Virginia. I read to three classrooms at West Preston School. The other day, I was reading a story to one of the classes rather excitedly with silly voices, as I often do, and one of the students handed me a note. She was so proud to give me the letter and was smiling so brightly.

In the note, she wrote, “Dear Mrs. Funk, you are the best reader and the best voice maker. There are no other persons like you. You are the best of the best.” The note included a hand drawn picture of me reading a book to the class.

It was so unexpected and overwhelmingly sweet. I was so moved by her act of kindness, I wrote her a letter back. In the letter, I said that she had made my day much brighter when I read her wonderful letter. Then, I said that getting to read to her and the other students brings me joy and is the highlight of my week.

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Berkeley County volunteer lights up kindergarten, second-grade classrooms

Betty Cuthbert looked up and realized she had been reading to Berkeley County school children for 25 years, with no plans to slow down.

By Bob Fleenor

Betty Cuthbert was surprised to realize she’s been a volunteer reader at Berkeley Heights Elementary School in Martinsburg for the past quarter century.

“I didn’t know it had been 25 years. If you enjoy it, you don’t count (the years),” she said. “I feel sorry for people who spend their time doing nothing.”

Cuthbert is one of approximately 175 Read Aloud West Virginia volunteers who visit Berkeley County classrooms each week.

Cuthbert, a native of Queens, N.Y., is one of Read Aloud’s longest-tenured readers. She and Bob, her husband of 55 years, moved to Berkeley County about 30 years ago when Bob took a job at Dulles International Airport.

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Fall in Love with Reading this Valentine’s Day

Check out these book recommendations for Valentine’s Day!

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli. Mr. Hatch “keeps to himself.” That’s what everybody says. Then one day he gets a surprise package, and a note: “Somebody loves you.” Good for kindergarten through third grade.


Nate the Great and the Mushy Valentine by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat. Who has left an anonymous note for Nate’s dog Sludge: “I love you, Sludge, more than fudge”? Kindergarten and first graders can puzzle out the answer alongside Detective Nate the Great. 

Looking at Lincoln by Maira Kalman. OK, not a Valentine’s book, but one for the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, who, among other accomplishments, signed West Virginia into existence. The book is a short, readable biography, but also a thoughtful look at the places Lincoln’s image appears in today’s world. Enjoyable throughout elementary school.

Saint Valentine by Robert Sabuda. Famous pop-up picture book artist Robert Sabuda, who appeared at the 2015 West Virginia Book Festival, created paper mosaics to evoke third-century Rome in his story of the original St. Valentine, a healer who sent a secret message to a little girl. Good non-fiction for upper elementary.