Arden Theatre Company Announces Book Drive in support of CHOP’s Reach Out and Read Program
(Philadelphia, PA) Arden Theatre Company announces a book drive during the run of A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD, with music by Robert Reale and book and lyrics by Willie Reale, running November 23 through January 29, 2017. A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD is based on the beloved Frog and Toad children’s stories, written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel, and follows the unlikely friendship between cheerful Frog and the rather grumpy Toad through four fun-filled seasons.
The book drive benefits Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Reach Out and Read program, which allows CHOP doctors and nurse practitioners at ten CHOP primary care doctor’s offices to encourage parents to read aloud to their children and to give the young children a brand-new, age-appropriate book at each well visit. The Reach Out and Read program begins at the child’s 6-month checkup, and continues through age 5, with special emphasis on children growing up in low-income communities.
Arden Managing Director Amy Murphy says, “It is fitting that we do a book drive during the run of A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD because this show is based on the beloved books that brought joy to so many children. The Arden has always been about encouraging a child’s creativity through literacy, and we can think of no better beneficiary than CHOP’s Reach Out and Read program.”
Ticket holders who bring a new or very gently used book with them to the show to place in the collection box in the lobby will receive a free popcorn at the Arden’s concession stand.
Founded in 1988, Arden Theatre Company is dedicated to bringing to life great stories by great storytellers–on the stage, in the classroom, and in the community. Five productions are staged each season as part of the Mainstage series and two productions through Arden Children’s Theatre, the city’s first resident professional children’s theatre program. New work is produced through the Independence Foundation New Play Showcase. The Arden’s Education Department includes: Arden for All (AFA), a theatre access and education program for underserved young people; Arden Drama School, the after-school, Saturday, and summer camp classes for students in grades pre K-12; Teen Arden, an immersive after-school access program for Philadelphia-area based teenagers; and the Arden Professional Apprentice Program, a nationally renowned comprehensive theatre management training program. The Hamilton Family Arts Center is the new facility dedicated to education programs and new play development.
The Arden has received numerous honors including 62 awards and 307 nominations from the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre. The Arden is a winner of four “Theatre Company of the Year” designations (Philadelphia Inquirer), six Philadelphia Magazine “Best of Philly” awards and three “Best of Philly Kids” awards, the City Paper’s Reader’s Choice Award and the prestigious “Great Friend to Kids Award” from the Please Touch Museum for Arden Children’s Theatre work. For accessibility efforts, the Arden was named a “Keystone of Accessibility” by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Arden Theatre Company is a professional, nonprofit 501(c)(3) theatre company and a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the League of Resident Theatres, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Old City Arts Association. The Arden also participates in The Barrymore Awards, a program of Theatre Philadelphia.
Recommended Book Titles:
*Baby Faces / I Love Colors / What’s on my Head
Margaret Miller / LITTLE SIMON (Simon & Schuster)
*Global Babies/American Babies
The Global Fund for Children (Charlesbridge)
*Good Morning Baby; Baby Faces; Touch and Feel: Reptiles / Farm Animals/123
FUNFAX / DK Publishing (Covent Garden Books)
*Natural Baby Books (Play, Sleep, Eat, & Splash)
St. Martin’s Press by priddy book
*Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? *Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear
Bill Martin Jr. / Eric Carle / Henry Holt and Company
*Goodnight Moon
Margaret Wise Brown
*The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Eric Carle
*Good Night, Gorilla
Peggy Rathman / Scholastic
*I Spy Board Books (Little Book / Little Wheels)
Jean Marzollo, Walter Wick / Scholastic
*Blue Hat, Green Hat / Opposites / A to Z
Sandra Boynton / Little Simon (Simon & Schuster)
*My Very First Book of Food / Motion / Numbers
Eric Carle / Penguin Putnam
*Dinosaur Roar!
Paul & Henriettal Stickland / Scholastic
*The Everything Book
Denise Fleming / Henry Holt and Company
*Good Night Philadelphia
Adam Gamble & Cooper Kelly / Our World of Books
*Ten, Nine, Eight
Molly Bang / Scholastic
*I Can Eat a Rainbow
Annabel Karmel / DK Publishing
Where’s Spot (lift the flap)?
Eric Hill / Puffin
Where the Wild Things Are
Maurice Sendak / Harper Collins
If You Take a Mouse to School
Laura Joffe Numeroff / Scholastic
Growing Vegetable Soup / Eating the Alphabet
Lois Ehlert / Voyager Books / Harcourt
The Car Washing Street
Denise Lewis Patrick / William Morrow
Bein’ with You This Way
W. Nikola-Lisa / Lee & Low Books, Inc.
Do Like Kyla
Angela Johnson / Scholastic
Book! Book! Book!
Deborah Bruss / Scholastic
A Book of Hugs
Dave Ross / Harper Trophy (Harper Collins)
Abiyoyo
Pete Seeger / Scholastic
Wild, Wild Hair
Nikki Grimes / Scholastic
Jamaica Tag-Along
Juanita Havill / Houghton Mifflin
Allie’s Basketball Dream
Barbara E. Barber / Lee & Low Books
Annie’s Gifts
Angela Shelf Medearis/ Just Us Books, Inc.
Road Builders
B. G. Hennessy / Puffin (Penguin Group)
Max’s Letter
Ken Wilson-Max / Hyperion
*CHOP Reach Out and Read prefers the board book version