Drop Everything and Read!

Posted by Roland Lange, Strategic Partner Development Manager

Sunday, April 12 is Drop Everything and Read Day (and, incidentally, author Beverly Cleary's birthday).

"Beatrice Quimby's biggest problem was her little sister Ramona." So begins the beloved Beverly Cleary's first book featuring Ramona, Beezus and Ramona. Many teachers and school officials would say that one of our biggest problems today is getting children to read. To help counter that, teachers and many other educational associations created an organization and a plan called "Drop Everything and Read!" For "D.E.A.R. time" at my children's schools, they literally drop their pencils, notebooks, textbooks, workbooks, and so on, grab a book, find a space and have some uninterrupted time to read. (I may ask Google HR if we can do the same thing here.) The sound of things hitting the desks and clattering to the floor can be rather loud.

Here at the Inside Google Book Search blog we want to do our part to promote this excellent effort and encourage every parent to take a moment and read a book to their children this Sunday. If you're having trouble figuring out what to read, try the Advanced Search feature on Google Book Search and play around to find the right book for you. You might search for "dragons, princes and princesses" in the Subject Category "fairy tales", or if you're a Curious George fan, try a search under Author for H. A. Rey.

Once you browse a few pages and figure out which book is just right, you can go to your favorite retailer (on- or offline) or find the book in your local library. Now, we can't help you devise voices for characters, but we do encourage you to pull out all the stops!

No need to limit this only to children either: This Sunday, let's make a loud noise, drop everything and read!