CLEVELAND — Students at Stephanie Tubbs Jones School in Cleveland had the chance to get their hands on a Northeast Ohio author's latest installment of his international best-selling series.
Students and staff at the school gathered to celebrate one of the largest donations to News 5's If You Give A Child A Book campaign.
"A lot of people don't get the chance to read or don't even know how to read, and I think it's just a gift," sixth grader Ataria Stephens said.
Elyria native Dav Pilkey sent 25,000 copies of his newest book to children in Cleveland and across the company.
"Sometimes when you're reading you can like escape the world sometimes and dive into the book," Stephens said.
Principal Natalie Smith-Benson said access to programs like this is critical to students' success.
"It is so awesome, especially in my school because we know a lot of our scholars don't get books in their hand," Smith-Benson said.
Since 2016, News 5 in partnership with the Scripps Howard Fund has partnered with several schools and non-profit literacy organizations to improve access to books.
"It was fun. They played music and took pictures with Dogman and I got to pass out books to little kids. They said, ‘thank you,’ they were happy," said Kaeron Stearns a seventh grader at Stephanie Tubbs Jones.
The excitement and appreciation seen on the faces of students ready to read was a reminder of the positive impact generosity can have even for the youngest members of our community.
"Giving is such a joy and when we see the looks on the scholar's faces today and the excitement it makes it all come together and makes it worthwhile," said Smith-Benson.
If you would like to strengthen our efforts you can donate to our "If You Give a Child a Book" campaign on the News 5 app.
You can also text WEWS to 50155 to donate.
