Community Corner

Patch Partners With Best-Selling Author to Promote Reading

James Patterson shares his summer reading recommendations for children of all ages through the ReadKiddoRead program.

Patch is partnering with best-selling author James Patterson and his ReadKiddoRead campaign in a summer reading program designed to encourage kids' passion for reading and support parents' efforts to interest their kids in books.

Aimed at parents, teachers, librarians and, of course, kids, the program launches this week across Patch's network of more than 850 community websites.

Kids and parents will be encouraged to share their own recommendations, their responses to the books, and their progress with the list on their hometown Patch site. The program includes four age-specific reading lists chosen by Patterson as great summer reads:

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"We hope moms and dads will be inspired to take an even more active role in getting their kids into books and reading. That’s what ReadKiddoRead is all about," Patterson says. "I’m proud to be working with Patch to get more children reading good books. I’m really excited to be getting a conversation going this summer with such a lively and active network of families across the country.” 

Patch also recently announced that May was its highest traffic and revenue period to date, with nearly 12 million users, according to a comScore report from June 2012. In just over three years, Patch has grown from three to more than 850 sites in 23 states and now employs nearly 1,000 professional editors in those communities.

"James Patterson’s passion for inspiring children to read made this partnership a perfect fit for Patch, given our commitment to supporting our communities —and by extension, the kids and families in those communities, ” Patch co-founder Warren Webster said. "We’re excited to work with ReadKiddoRead and hope that this initiative will foster a love of reading that will last well beyond this summer.”

Patterson has been the No. 1 selling author in America for the past three years, with more than 16 million books sold in North America during 2011 alone. He is the first author to have No. 1 new titles simultaneously on The New York Times adult and children's best-seller lists. Patterson is a champion of reading and for several years sponsored the James Patterson Pageturner awards, which rewarded people and organizations that spread the excitement and joy of books and reading. Through this and other efforts, he has given millions of dollars to people and causes that are working to spread the joy and excitement of reading.

Find out what's happening in Largowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Patterson launched ReadKiddoRead.com — which helps parents and educators connect their children with the books that will turn them into lifelong readers — in 2008, and since then the site has won acclaim with the National Book Foundation’s Innovations in Reading Prize, and has been enjoyed by hundreds of thousands across the country. 


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