Dog Man has arrived in Cleveland! On March 19, Riverside School in Cleveland launched a special “Dog Man” Little Free Library book-exchange box, which will share 1,000 books donated by Dog Man author, illustrator, and Cleveland native Dav Pilkey. It is the first of 50 Dog Man Little Free Libraries that will be granted to child-focused sites in each U.S. state as part of the “Power Up with Reading” initiative.
Pilkey, in coordination with Scholastic and Little Free Library, will donate 50,000 books to support these 50 libraries and help ignite a passion for reading.
“The entire Riverside family is so very thankful to have received this amazing gift from Dav Pilkey and Scholastic,” said Heather Kama-Starr, Riverside Assistant Principal. “Author Pilkey provides a wonderful example of how perseverance pays off. We will be forever grateful, not only for the library and books, but for the example he has set and for the love of learning he is instilling in so many!”
Dav Pilkey’s artwork on the Little Free Library box includes the “Power Up with Reading” message and features Dog Man, along with other well-loved characters in his bestselling Captain Underpants and Cat Kid Comic Club series.
Dav Pilkey said, “When I was a kid, I have fond memories of going to the library where my mom would let me pick out whatever books I wanted to read. This is how I came to associate reading with love. I’m grateful to Little Free Library, Scholastic, and the many committed librarians and teachers for all their efforts to make this world a better place. Their dedication to literacy is life-changing.”
Attendees on hand to celebrate the Dog Man Little Free Library launch event included LFL national board member Shauntina Lilly, Cleveland Ward 17 City Councilman Charles Slife, CMSD Chief Academic Officer Dr. Selena Florence, and representatives from the Cleveland Public Library and National Coalition of Jewish Women Cleveland.
“We are excited to launch the Dog Man Little Free Library at the Riverside School in Cleveland,” said LFL Executive Director Greig Metzger. “Thanks to the generosity of Scholastic and Dav Pilkey, we can inspire young readers through the exciting adventures of Dog Man. We believe that the spark of inspiration will grow so today’s students can achieve all that is possible through the power of reading. It is an honor for Little Free Library to contribute to that possibility.”
March 19 was also the global publication date of Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder, the newest book in the wildly popular Dog Man series. Additional Dog Man Little Free Library installations are planned for Washington, DC, New York City, Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Houston, New Orleans, Phoenix, Portland, Madison, and San Francisco, with more cities to be announced. Each Dog Man Little Free Library box will include free copies of Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder, as well as a wide assortment of children’s books from
Scholastic’s “Power of Story” collection which highlight books by diverse authors and feature multicultural characters. The book giveaway, made possible by and courtesy of Dav Pilkey, will reach communities that are part of Little Free Library’s “Impact Library” program which focuses on granting book-exchanges in under-resourced communities.
In tandem with the Little Free Library installations and to celebrate the release of the 12th book in the Dog Man series, LFL is hosting a book giveaway, sponsored by Scholastic, for Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder. All Dog Man fans in the U.S. and Canada can enter to win one of 1,200 copies of The Scarlet Shedder. Enter the giveaway.
Learn more about the Dog Man Little Free Libraries and how you can start a Little Free Library of your own.