Pat was featured in a great article in School Library Journal on April 30! Read Pat Mora on Día, the Arbuthnot Lecture, and Diverse Books: 20 Years and Counting, written by Ruth Quiroa.
Celebrate Children, Celebrate Books, April 30, 2016 Día’s 20th Anniversary
Continue or begin the Día tradition in your home and family. Give a book to your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, children of friends and neighbors. Let’s celebrate all our children and share bookjoy with them day by day, día por día.
This year, we are celebrating the 560 programs (from 40 states) entered into ALSC’s National Día Program Registry (not all celebrations register their events), with an estimated 103,635 participants!
Many thanks to each of you who, as part of our Día community, has worked to enrich the lives of children and families this April. You are GOOD NEWS in our country.
Abrazos!
Pat
Do-it-yourself Día
If you can’t find a nearby Día celebration, then create your own! Any combination of family+books will do! Here are a few ideas:
Family Book Fiesta
Turn tomorrow (Saturday, April 30) into your family’s very own Book Fiesta! Don’t leave the stories until bedtime – read at breakfast, lunch, dinner and in between!
Día in the park
2016 is the 20th anniversary of Día and the 100th anniversary of the National Parks. Whether your nearby park is National or not, try to enjoy it this weekend, and don’t forget to bring along some favorite books to read in the great outdoors.
Make a Día keepsake book
Honor your family by making a book about them! All you need is paper, some photos, crayons, a stapler and a great family story!
Illustration by Rafael Lopez from Book Fiesta!
Celebrating Día’s 20th on Capitol Hill
On April 27, Pat Mora joined Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) President Andrew Medlar for a 20th anniversary Día celebration on Capitol Hill, complete with books, cake and lemonade! Three important visitors came by to share in the celebration, reading aloud to a group of children from D.C. schools CentroNía and Payne Elementary: Congressman Donald M. Payne Jr. (NJ) read Last Stop on Market Street; Senator Jack Reed (RI) read Drum Dream Girl and Congressman Mark Takano (CA) read Book Fiesta!
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- Congressman Donald M. Payne Jr.
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- Senator Jack Reed.
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- Congressman Mark Takano.
Looking ahead to Día’s next 20 years
Pat was honored to have been chosen to give The May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture, “Bookjoy! Alegria en los Libros!”, on April 15, 2016 in Santa Barbara, CA. She shared some personal bookjoy stories and made reference to Día’s origins, but she also expanded on her ideas for raising a nation of readers, and how she sees collaboration as the next important step in Día’s journey. Watch the lecture here: