The Storymoja Read Aloud team has called upon Kenyans to help in its bid to set a new World Record. The World Record targeted is that of Most People Reading Aloud from the Same Text at the Same Time in Different Venues.
In June 2015, the Storymoja Read Aloud team led 229,043 children in 1,097 schools across 44 counties in Kenya to try and set a record. The national record was of the most people reading the same text at the same time in multiple locations.
The current Guinness World Record for Most People Reading Aloud from the Same Text at the Same Time in Different Venues is 223,363 participants in 909 venues across the USA.
The Storymoja Read Aloud initiative was born in 2013 to promote reading culture among Kenyans. Through this initiative, Storymoja has been changing the reading culture by motivating children to read for pleasure, become imaginative and creative, and mould their own futures.
This year, Storymoja will attempt to officially break the world record while celebrating the International Day of the African Child on Wednesday June 16. They are currently in conversation with the Guinness Book of World Records to formally endorse and recognize this initiative.
If Kenyan children achieve a world record in reading, it will go a long way in building positive perceptions about the value of reading storybooks. Reading aloud with children provides an enjoyable, shared experience of the written language, which forms the foundation for further language and reading development.
Kenyans can reach out and support Storymoja in the following ways
- Nominate and/or recruit a school to participate.
- Purchase the KICD approved Attack of the Shidas books for participating schools (The extract to be read aloud is at the back of the book). Or rally both individuals and corporates to purchase copies of the book. A copy retails for Ksh. 380.
- Join any of the participating schools as a Reading Ambassador and read aloud with them.
- Spread the word through your networks and social media platforms.