Activities and Events

Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools® Launches Read Aloud Campaign to Protect the Freedom to Read

Brightly colored stripes behind the words "60 for 60 Read Aloud Campaign Protect the Freedom to Read" with kids of many races holding up books and the Freedom Schools logo

At Lee and Low, we are thrilled to support the efforts of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools as they commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project with a campaign to protect our freedom to read.

The 60 for 60 Read Aloud Campaign aims to recruit 60 children’s book authors and illustrators to read at Freedom Schools across the country on the CDF Freedom Schools’ National Day of Social Action, Wednesday, July 17th, 2024.

A huge THANK YOU to the Lee & Low creators who have signed up so far, including:

Cover of Mèo and Bé, showing a young girl sitting under a tree with a grey cat beside her. The grass beneath them is covered in what looks like pieces of broken plates with different patterns on them.
Cover for Bonnie's Rocket, showing a young girl holding a cylinder base and cone top, that look like pieces of a tiny rocket. The table in front of her has an open book and craft supplies on it. In the background, there is an astronaut on the moon, and sketches of rockets on a starry night sky.
Cover for She Was the First!, showing Shirley Chisholm in front of the Washington, D.C. Capitol speaking to a crowd and holding up two peace signs with her hands.
Cover of The Electric Slide and Kai, showing a young Black boy dancing on an empty stage. A spotlight is on him, and musical notes are floating in the air around him.
Cover of Dream Builder, showing Philip Freelon looking to the left and smiling. Behind him in the distance is a large, beautiful building.
Cover of Destiny's Gift, showing a young Black girl and older Black woman in a bookstore. Destiny, the young girl, is clutching a book close to her heart and smiling up at the older woman, who owns the bookstore.
Cover of Hammering for Freedom: The William Lewis Story, showing William Lewis holding a hammer in one hand and a tool holding a hot piece of metal in the other, on top of a slab. He is hammering the shape on the slab into a horseshoe. A row of Black people stand behind him and watch; the have baskets of cotton at their feet or in their hands. The sky is blue and filled with clouds behind them.
Cover of Bird, showing a young Black boy holding a pen and smiling, looking inspired.

At Lee & Low, we believe books have the power to change lives. Through reading, we can empower, educate, inspire, and cultivate empathy for perspectives outside of our own. As a nation, it is imperative that we work together to protect our freedom to read, freedom to learn, freedom to grow, and most importantly, freedom to be ourselves, feel understood, and safe.

Why YOU should participate in the 2024 National Day of Social Action

• Even though only 39% of children and young adult books published include at least one primary character of color (Black, Latino, Asian, Indigenous American, etc.), 30% of all book bans and challenges are against books featuring characters of color and another 30% are against books featuring LGBTQIA+ characters.

• Approximately 42% of banned or challenged books cover topics on health and wellbeing for students (including mental health, bullying, suicide, substance abuse, and puberty).

• Children and young adults have Constitutional rights to free speech and to receive information.

• Many book challenges across the country come from individuals who have never read the books.

learn more and sign up here