We’re absolutely tickled to pass along the news  that the world’s largest trade publisher, Random House, Inc., has agreed to donate thousands of books for use in our upcoming iREAD pilot.  This is a huge deal for us: thanks to Random House’s generosity, we can provide some of the world’s best-known literature to hundreds of children in the developing world at no cost.

The books include such classic works as Peter Pan, The Secret Garden, and Moby-Dick, all professionally formatted for e-readers, and all free of charge for the children in Ghana.  Just looking down the list brings a huge smile to my face: to a literature major, books like Death in Venice,  Crime and Punishment, and Homer’s Odyssey are about as good as it gets.

This donation also includes the use of all 56 Magic Tree House collection by Mary Pope Osborne,  which was a favorite among children in Worldreader’s earlier study in Ayenyah, Ghana (as well as among my own daughters when they were younger!)   To help create a deep culture of reading, we there’s nothing better to get children “hooked” than a great series books, and once you start reading about Jack and Annie’s tree-house adventures with dinosaurs, mummies, and pirates, you don’t want to stop.

For a list of many of the books donated by Random House., Inc., and their sister imprint Bantam, click here. All of these books will be available to the children and teachers participating in the iREAD pilot, and complement the growing list of locally published books that we are digitizing.  We look forward to other local and international publishers following suit, and are  absolutely thrilled to have Random House, Inc., as a long-term partner to bring books to all.