Thousands of SCUSD students will participate in “Read for the Record” on Thursday, a nationwide campaign to break the world record for the most adults and children reading the same book on the same day.

The book is “Llama Llama Red Pajama” by Anna Dewdney, a sweet rendering of the trials of bedtime separation anxiety that is a favorite among young children. In classrooms across Sacramento City Unified, teachers will be reading the book to students, many using projectors to show the colorful illustrations on wide screens.

At Mark Hopkins Elementary, Principal Tiffany Smith-Simmons will read the book aloud at 8 a.m. to an assembly of the entire student body.

Read for the Record is sponsored by Jumpstart, a non-profit organization that recruits and trains college students and community volunteers to help children in low-income neighborhoods develop language and literacy skills. For Read for the Record, Jumpstart has partnered with Pearson textbooks, which is providing copies of Dewdney’s picture book to SCUSD schools.

WHAT:  School children participating in attempt to break a world reading record

WHERE:  Mark Hopkins Elementary School
  2221 Matson Drive (media must check in at the front office)

WHEN:   Reading begins at 8 a.m. on Thursday, October 6