Celebrity Reading Day honoring International Literacy Day

The City of Los Angeles EPPA executive board of directors, Los Angeles Historical Monument, ShowBiz Kidz Foundation, the Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles County Office of Education and the Department of Mental Health are launching Celebrity Reading Day™ on Saturday, September 7, 2019 in honor of National Literacy Day. We curated a list of dynamic celebrity authors/readers to entertain you.

This event will take place at El Pueblo Historical Monument, the birthplace of Los Angeles on Main Street adjacent to City Hall. Los Angeles is our nation’s second largest city with pre-school, school-age children and teens with different experiences, backgrounds, religions, identities and more that books can help them find him or herself – as well as learn about other cultures. This event will help teach children and teens the importance of empathy and kindness from book reading as they navigate through school life and beyond.

With the children, we want you to have fun and be playful. Use this as an opportunity to ham it up and perhaps create different character voices to really engage the children. Even kids ages 8 and beyond still love being read to, according to Kids & Family Reading Report by Scholastic research. That research also shows kids of all ages want books that “make-me-laugh.”

With the increased requests by teens/tweens and the media surrounding millennial celebrities pushing to de-stigmatizing their need for mental health, we have carved out a SPECIAL teen session addressing mental wellness. This session will comprise of panelist from bestselling author and TV medical expert (and from Dr. Oz’s Healthcorps foundation*), Dr. Mark Goulston along with TV personalities and celebrities addressing bullying, stress, depression, anxiety and suicide prevention. *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlf4yMSV7VY&t= https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Goulston/e/B001IZ2O3W/

One in 10 kids ages 12-17 say they specifically look for books that have “culturally or ethnically diverse story lines, settings or characters.” It takes a village – look to teachers, school librarians, parents and more for books but we all know that the media and celebrities are powerful tools to emphasize messaging. We know Hollywood is the entertainment capital of the world, by you lending your celebrity, and the diverse melting pot of many communities right here in Los Angeles, NO DOUBT, this event will draw media attention!

Register to the event for free here.