MeMeTales and Readathon 2012

By Maya Bisineer

I am so excited to be able to guest post on the Little Pickle Press blog! We admire Rana and Little Pickle Press for every detail they put into the books they make. They inspire us everyday! We want to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about MeMeTales, our story and inspiration and our upcoming Readathon. So, let me jump right it!

Why does MemeTales exist?

As a company, MeMeTales is passionate about kids and reading. We will be happiest when kids obsess about stories and are addicted to reading. We want them to love reading so much that they will choose to curl up with a book rather than turn to Angry Birds. And no matter how media evolves, we want kids to cherish reading as a special experience. 

How does technology fit in?

Technology is a wonderful thing — it brings the world together in ways never imagined before. It gives us numerous options for learning and entertainment. It also hands us a greater responsibility — a responsibility we have to assume whether we like it or not —a responsibility to make the right choices. So as a company, we absolutely love that with MeMeTales, kids can read no matter where they are. With mobile taking over the world, reading is possible anywhere and anytime. Yet, we compete, not with the physical books, but with the Angry Birds of the world. We believe the only way to tackle this challenge and assume our responsibility with grace is not to take the kids away from Angry Birds, but to make reading so much fun that they WANT to be a part of it. 

So what does MemeTales do?

At MeMeTales, we want to make reading fun in 2 main ways :

1. Our app and website - We bring together some awesome books from dedicated publishers on our MeMeTales app. We make reading fun by letting kids earn points and stickers as they read more and more.
2. Our Readathon - Every year, we are going to do a Readathon, starting this year. We are incredibly excited about it!

12 publishers, 24 bloggers and several people across the world are joining hands to get thousands of kids reading over 6 weeks this summer. This Readathon, for the youngest and emerging readers, is powered by MeMeTales Reader app and our website. 

According to the National Summer Learning Association , it is clear that children who don’t read during the summer can lose up to three months of reading progress, and that loss has a cumulative, long-term effect.  In order to prevent the “Summer Slide”, MeMeTales, in partnership with PBSKids, is working together with several motivated publishers such as Harper Collins and ORCA Books to make complete books available for kids to read week after week in the summer. Award-winning publishers such as Shen’s Books and Little Pickle Press are excited to join in, as are international publishers such as Era Publications and Karadi Tales. Several influential bloggers are joining in to support this cause.

What can you do to help?

Join in and spread the word. With Readathon2012, there is really no excuse for not reading. 

If you are blogger, please join in and spread the word. Post on your blogs. Tweet about it. Sign on to be an ambassador. We will be eternally grateful!

If you are a parent, have your child read. It is really the best gift you can give us, and more importantly, the best gift for your child!