Jumpstart’s Read for the Record

Jumpstart's Read for the Record is a national campaign to bring young children together with valued grownups in their lives to read the same book, on the same day, in communities all over the world. Celebrate literacy and support Jumpstart in its efforts to promote early childhood education!

Read for the Record

Every October or November, children and adults will gather to learn, laugh, and read the year's campaign book, as part of the world’s largest shared reading experience.

Read for the Record inspires adults to read with children, spurs policymakers and organizations to take action towards transformative change in early education, and puts books in the hands of more children across the country.

Sharing high-quality picture books with young children is at the core of Jumpstart’s mission. Each year, Jumpstart selects a campaign book that fosters language and social-emotional development, honors the diversity in our world, has a strong narrative, and appeals to young children. That book is read across the country and around the world by adults and young readers on Read for the Record day.

Visit Read for the Record to learn about Jumpstart's work with children, find out about this year's campaign, and register to read.

What you’ll find here:

2021 book: Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon

Book cover for Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon

Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon, by Kat Zhang is a celebration of cultural symbols, family, and self-affirmation.

When Amy Wu’s class is making their own dragons at craft time, Amy creates a dragon with a long, wingless body, stag-like horns, and eagle claws, but her friends don’t think it’s a real dragon. Then Amy tries making dragons that look like theirs, but none of them feels quite right. After school, a story from Grandma sparks new inspiration, and together with her family, Amy finally makes a dragon that feels right for her.

Message from Jumpstart about purchasing the book

Unfortunately, we experiencing industry-wide delays due to the pandemic. Our books are at customs and it is unknown when they will arrive to our fulfillment center. We will be expediting shipment of all orders as soon as inventory is available. In the meantime, Jumpstart’s special edition book will be available online for free in English, Spanish, and Mandarin beginning October 25. Visit the Jumpstart shop >

Tips on reading aloud

Reading aloud with a child is a joyful experience and also a wonderful opportunity to help children build vocabulary, background knowledge, and comprehension skills. It should include lots of two-way conversation about what's happening as the story unfolds. Learn more about how to have a great read aloud experience in these Reading Rockets articles:

Starting young

Learn more about why it's so important to read aloud to kids, starting at a very young age, in this video clip from our show Toddling Toward Reading.

Children’s authors read aloud

Some of our favorite poets and authors — Jarrett Krosoczka, J. Patrick Lewis, Julianne Moore, Mem Fox, Ashley Bryan, Patricia McKissack, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, Julie Andrews, and others — read aloud from their own stories. Everyone brings their own style to read alouds and that's what makes them so much fun for kids.

About Jumpstart

Jumpstart is a national early education organization working toward the day every child in America enters kindergarten prepared to succeed. Jumpstart delivers a research-based and cost-effective program by training college students and community volunteers to serve preschool-age children in low-income neighborhoods. Through a proven curriculum, these children develop the language and literacy skills they need to be ready for kindergarten, setting them on a path for lifelong success. Jumpstart is a proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network.