"I will defend the importance of bedtime stories to my last gasp." —J.K. Rowling

WHAT WE LOVE THIS WEEK

Book giving. As promised, this week's wrap-up is all about finding more ways to spread literary joy. One of the best ways to serve is giving your time. Ask your local schools if you can come read in classrooms each month. To make the biggest impact, choose schools where parent volunteers are lacking.

The folks over at Book Riot rounded up a list of bookish charities and Project Night Night immediately caught our attention. It's a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a little love to homeless children 12 and under in the form of comfort items and, you guessed it, a great book. There are ways to go big or small with this one—you can simply mail or drop off donations or run your own drive to help out a local shelter. 

United Through Reading. This beautiful nonprofit provides a way for parents serving in our military all over the world to video themselves reading bedtime stories for their children back home—guaranteeing a good night's sleep for all.

"Nothing can be compared to the charm of reading a good story book." We wholeheartedly concur with Rezaul, a student in Bangladesh, who thanks to Room to Read, has more access to that magic than ever before. Their mission: provide education and literacy programs to children, with an emphasis on girls, all over the world. Knowledge is power.

This may be exhibiting a little hometown favoritism, but when I saw that Reader to Reader just donated 500,000 books to schools in Gallup, New Mexico and the surrounding Native American communities, my heart swelled. 

Public libraries. Either your own or one in a struggling neighborhood. Go online to find out if they accept book or monetary donations. Or better yet, just stop in and ask. And check out a book or two while you're there.

In other news: have you seen this movie yet? You really should.

Posted by Rachel