Unique Books will celebrate Jumpstart's Read for the Record

BAYONNE, NJ – August 8, 2006.

Event  12 noon-2pm.
On August 24, in communities all across America, people will gather to read "The Little Engine That Could" and visibly show their support for Jumpstart’s Read for the record.  They will read at their local library, the town green, the Starbucks dow the street, a local preschool, and in their own homes.  You can be a part of this national movement and help mobilize your community.

August 24, 2006 - Unique Books will celebrate Jumpstart’s Read for the record, a national campaign to engage teens, adults and children all across America in setting the world record for the largest shared reading experience ever.  Unique Books will support this campaign on August 24 by holding a reading of “The Little Engine That Could” following a sale of the new edition of this timeless book. “Early learning experiences are crucial tot he growth and development of young children,” said Leonard Janes, owner of Unique Books.  “Jumpstart’s Read for the Record provides opportunities for everyone in the United States to support quality early education and to engage in the powerful learning experiences that Jumpstart models in its classroom everyday.”

Mr. Janes encourages readers of all ages to register at www.readfortherecord.org and sign up to read the campaign’s official book, The Little Engine That Could, on August 24.

Jumpstart, a national nonprofit organization, is currently working with 10,000 preschool children throughout the United States to help each child build language, literacy and social skills that are critical for their success upon entering kindergarten.  Since 1993, Jumpstart has been working towards the day every child enters school prepared to succeed.

Jumpstart’s Read for the Record builds on the important work Jumpstart is doing in communities across the country and will broaden the organization’s impact to thousands more children.  Through Jumpstart, children like 4 year-old Antwone McCaskell can make extraordinary strides.  Antwone was recommended for the Jumpstart program in 2005 because he lacked the language skills needed to speak in full sentences, and therefore had no confidence in his abilities to participate in class.  Just 6 months after entering Jumpstart’s program, Antwone had made so much progress that he was among five children chosen to participate in a taping with Matt Lauer of the TODAY Show, as a way to promote Jumpstart’s national awareness campaign.  While Antwone’s story is powerful, it is not unique.  Jumpstart’s Read for the record campaign promotes, across the country, the early learning experiences that resulted in Antwone’s transformation.

In partnership with Jumpstart, Unique Books supports the importance of early education, literacy development, and joins the campaign to share the powerful “I Think I Can” message of the classic Little Engine That Could.  In addition to registering to Read fro the record on August 24, Jumpstart and Unique Books recommend the following ways to get involved and promote early education:

• Volunteer your time to work with children and teachers at a school, community center, Head Start or child care program;
• Support the creation of high quality preschool experiences in your local community, state, and across the country;
• Thank early childhood educators and others who play a vital role in preparing young children to succeed in school and beyond;
• Consider donating a book to one of the many at-risk children who have no books in their homes.  You can do this at www.readfortherecord.org

About Jumpstart’s Read for the Record
Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign serves to raise awareness about the early education crisis, provide effective tools to address this crisis, and increase support for Jumpstart’s important work.  Through this campaign, Jumpstart and its partners, including Starbucks, Pearson, Penguin (USA), American Eagle and the Corporation for National and Community service, will further their national impact by inviting adults across America to read with young children and set the world record for the number of children reading the same book in a single day with an adult.  The record- setting day: August 24, 2006...The record-setting book: The Little Engine That Could.  Children and adults will set the record by registering for the event (at www.readfortherecord.org) and reading in their own homes or at one of the many community events held nationwide, in Starbucks stores, shopping malls, public libraries, parks and other venues.

About Jumpstart
Jumpstart is a national early education organization that works toward the day every child in America enters school prepared to succeed.  Through extraordinary attention in yearlong one-to-one relationships, Jumpstart inspires children to learn, adults to teach, families to get involved, and communities to progress together.

Headquartered in Boston, Jumpstart pairs 2,500 trained adults one-to-one with preschool children in need of assistance.  During the 2005-2006 program year, Jumpstart served 10,000 children in 60 communities across 22 states, in partnership with 225 Head Start and other early learning centers across the country.  Jumpstart’s national sponsors include American Eagel Outfitters, AmeriCorps, Pearson, and Starbucks.  Jumpstart is the recipient of the Fast Company/Monitor Social Capitalist Awars (2004-2006) and the Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy’s Director’s Award.  For more information, visit the Jumpstart website at www.jstart.org.  For more information about Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign, visit www.readfortherecord.org.