Author to encourage families to ‘Fall In Love With Reading’ at Valentine’s Day event

MILWAUKEE (February 9, 2015) – Wisconsin children’s author and illustrator Brenda McGrath, Walgreens and Milwaukee Public Schools are inviting families to celebrate the love of reading at a free Valentine’s Day event.

Children must be accompanied by an adult for the “Fall In Love With Reading” event set for Saturday, February 14, 2015 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at MPS’ Milwaukee High School of the Arts, 2300 W. Highland Avenue, Milwaukee 53233. 

Children will be able to read along or listen along as books by McGrath – author of “The Bashful Cat,” “Ding Bat,” “Skipper the Wise Quacker” and other children’s titles – are read aloud in reading sessions.

The event also includes free food, drawings, games and prizes.

McGrath said she’s helping to host the event because it’s important for families to have the opportunity to celebrate reading with their children.

“Reading is very important to me and I want to make it just as important to them,” she said.

But reading should also be about fun, McGrath said. The author has been drawing pictures and telling her own stories to go along with them since she was a child and got into writing children’s books after she realized how much her own children enjoyed the stories and drawings she shared.

“Once I learned how interested they were and how drawn in they were, I decided to do it for a living and make other kids happy,” McGrath said.

About Milwaukee Public Schools

Milwaukee Public Schools is committed to accelerating student achievement, building positive relationships between youth and adults and cultivating leadership at all levels. The district’s commitment to improvement continues to show results:

• More MPS students are meeting reading standards
• The MPS Class of 2014 earned $31 million in scholarships, up $7 million; and
• MPS is home to 4 of the state’s top 15 high schools according to U.S. News and World Report

Learn more about MPS by visiting http://mps.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/en/District/About-MPS.htm. More MPS news is available at http://mps.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/news.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.