BJF AND SAG FOUNDATION BOOKPALS LAUNCH
BOOKS TALK BACK, NEW SERIES OF READINGS TO SUPPORT CHILDREN'S LITERACY IN NYC
First Reading Served Special Needs Students Receiving Early Intervention Services
Last Thursday, July 18, the
Brooke Jackman Foundation (BJF) partnered with the
Screen Actors Guild Foundation BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools) to launch
Books Talk Back, an interactive new series of theatrical readings and book donations for underserved children in the New York area. Actress Dana Marie Ingraham, who is currently performing in
Spiderman on Broadway, led the first reading for a group of special needs children, ages two to three, who are receiving site-based early intervention at the Challenge Early Intervention Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
The Challenge Early Intervention Center, which provides services for children with special needs, currently has no funding for libraries in its classrooms. Recognizing this need, BJF donated books to create mini libraries in each of the school's five classrooms. This book donation also ensured that each of the 80 students in the early intervention program went home with a book of his or her own.
Each Books Talk Back reading will feature professional actors from SAG Foundation BookPALS who will dramatically read children's books specifically selected for their humor, diverse characters and ample wacky roles for the professional actors to perform. Each event will also be accompanied by a book donation from the Brooke Jackman Foundation.
Several Books Talk Back events will be held throughout the coming year. Each event will serve a different population of children in need. Through Books Talk Back, BJF aims to capture the imagination of these extraordinary children and help them fall into a lifelong love of reading.
For more information about Books Talk Back, please contact info@brookejackmanfoundation.org.
Wishing you a safe and relaxing summer from the Brooke Jackman Foundation!
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