NEWS
LITERACY THROUGH THE ARTS
Carol Henault, Executive Director, firmly believes the arts can play a significant role in inspiring children’s love of reading. “The Word Art contest allowed children the space and time to be curious and creative, encouraging them to continue their discovery of new worlds through books to become our readers for tomorrow.”
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, Fenton Primary Center invited author Leticia Ordaz to do a school-wide virtual reading of her bilingual book, The Adventures of Mr. Macaw. All students received a copy of her book, and author and musician Dennis Mathew shared his music to accompany the presentation. Mr. Macaw now hangs (flies!) proudly in Fenton’s atrium.
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That same evening, in celebration of Family Literacy Day, families were invited to join a second virtual reading by Leticia Ordaz of her book, That Girl on TV Could Be Me (Leticia is the News Anchor for TV Channel 3, Sacramento, CA). Students enjoyed listening to her book and her path to get where she is today. It was very inspirational not only for the students, but also for the parents and staff who enjoyed listening to the story as well.
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Coco Salazar, Kindergarten Lead Teacher, Fenton Primary Center: “I just had to share all this because if it weren't for RIFSoCal, I would not have been able to make these connections! Thanks for bringing so many wonderful and amazing authors and people who promote literacy into the lives of our little ones and thanks to your amazing organization for putting books into the hands of our kiddos! You are appreciated!”
RIFSoCal’s fantastic partners, MagicBeans Bookstore and Fenton Primary Center, celebrated National Literacy Day together on November 1st!
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Kudos to MagicBeans’s Leat Regwan for coordinating over 25 authors and storytellers to provide virtual readings of their stories for Fenton’s 30 TK – 2nd grade classes. Children were able to meet and talk directly with the authors, ask questions about the books, complete coloring pages, and just enjoy a fun day full of books, books, books!
Schools that emphasize literacy see higher reading scores, and Coco Salazar, Fenton Primary Center’s Kindergarten Lead Teacher, does an OUTSTANDING job coordinating high quality literacy events.
RIFSoCal and KidLit TV
Reading Is Fundamental of Southern California is delighted to announce our new, magical partnership with KidLit TV!
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KidLit TV is a winner of the Parents’ Choice Gold Award, the Norton Juster Award for Devotion to Literacy, and one of the American Library Association’s Great Websites for Kids. KLTV is available in over 700,000 schools worldwide via our website and video distribution partners. They are a diverse group of parents, educators, librarians, kid lit creators, and award-winning filmmakers working together to create fun new ways to reinforce an appreciation of reading that children will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
LINK to all Read Out Loud episodes with graphics featuring individuals shows throughout the day/week: https://kidlit.tv/
RIFSoCal
&
MagicBeans Bookstore
Join Forces To Promote Children's Literacy and Independent Publishing
Rise Up Foundation Sponsors RIFSoCal's 2019 - 2020 Bookmarks
Reading Is Fundamental of Southern California is delighted to announce our new, magical partnership! Each book purchased through MagicBeans Bookstore supports independent publishing AND enables the donation of a brand-new children’s book for RIFSoCal children to take home to keep as their very own.
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Independent authors and artists celebrate their diverse voices, breaking the mold and making ALL children feel included by bravely writing about autism, bullying, multiculturalism, diversity, LGBT, spirituality, self-esteem, as well as other topics often overlooked by mainstream publishers of children’s books.
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RIFSoCal and MagicBeans fiercely believe every child deserves to experience the magic of books.
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Rise Up Foundation
Proud Partner of Story Monsters Ink
Reading Is Fundamental of Southern California so appreciates the special book Rise Up Foundation donated for our sites! RIFSoCal will distribute 500 copies of All Are Welcome by Alex Penfold and illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman directly to site libraries for teachers to check out and use as a springboard to celebrate diversity and promote conversation about inclusiveness in their classroom.
Reading Is Fundamental of Southern California
Announces Partnership with Story Monsters Ink Magazine
Los Angeles, CA (April, 2018) – A staggering 60 percent of students growing up in low-income households do not have any age-appropriate books in their homes. In an effort to get new, suitable books into the hands of more children in need, two staunch advocates for children’s literacy are joining forces. Story Monsters Ink magazine and Reading Is Fundamental of Southern California (RIFSoCal) are teaming up to create home libraries for kids and motivate them to read.
An award-winning monthly magazine, Story Monsters Ink is the literary resource for teachers, librarians and parents. Each issue offers book reviews, author interviews, reading lists and more. The magazine also features poems, stories and articles written by kids and its popular #Caught Reading program encourages readers of all ages to open up a book.
“It is such an honor for us to partner with RIFSoCal,” says Linda F. Radke, a former special education teacher, president of Story Monsters LLC and publisher of Story Monsters Ink. Every single child deserves to know the joy of reading and every single book makes a difference. I’m so proud to work with RIFSoCal to bridge the reading gap and give hope, love, and dreams to children in need.”
Reading Is Fundamental of Southern California was formed in 1972 and works with underserved youth in Orange and Los Angeles Counties. Volunteers, including parents, teachers, librarians, school administrators and civic leaders orchestrate the book distribution events, demonstrating the community’s support for children’s literacy. Children choose their own brand-new books to keep and read for fun. The books are provided at no charge to the children or their families. A 501c3 nonprofit, RIFSoCal has been recognized for its successful multi-site program, the largest within the RIF organization.
“Reading Is Fundamental of Southern California is honored to join forces with Story Monsters Ink to encourage children’s passion for reading, as this is the greatest gift we can give them on their personal road to success,” says Carol K. Henault, executive director of Reading Is Fundamental of Southern California. “I am so inspired by Story Monsters and their role as a top-rate literary resource. Our partnership will help ensure RIFSoCal children have new books to keep as their very own – many for the first time – and allow them to discover the magic of reading. I am proud to stand with Story Monsters Ink and together, move forward with fierce determination to improve the literacy potential of our children.”
This year alone, the combined goal for these two literacy powerhouses is to reach 68,000 children with over 200,000 new books and make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged children, one book at a time.
To learn more about Reading Is Fundamental of Southern California and to donate, visit www.rifsocal.org. For more about Story Monsters Ink or to subscribe, visit www.storymonsters.com.
Carmax and RIFSoCal!
On October 29th, 19 Carmax volunteers came to help us out, collating and packaging 30,000 bookmarks into bookmark and bookplate packets. Thank you so much for your amazing, and hard work Carmax!!!
To promote literacy and motivate children to read by providing new books to create home libraries for underserved children in Southern California.
"I want to read with my family so they
could be better readers like me."
Contact Information
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Carol Henault
Executive Director
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Oscar Cux
Program Service Manager
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Raymond Gonis
Warehouse Manager