Scholastic Read for the World Record tops 50 million minutes

This summer, Scholastic, together with Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and the National Summer Learning Association, successfully motivated kids around the globe to set a brand new Scholastic Read for the World Record of 52,710,368 minutes read over the summer, besting last year's record of 35,846,094 minutes read.

Launched on April 30, the Scholastic Summer Challenge asked kids to log the minutes they spent reading during the summer break, and more than 110,850 kids from more than 5,500 schools throughout all 50 states in the U.S. and in 120 countries worldwide smashed the world record in summer reading.

On behalf of all the readers participating in the Summer Challenge, Scholastic is making a donation of 50,000 books to kids in need through Reading Is Fundamental, a children's literacy nonprofit. The Scholastic Summer Challenge, a free program for kids and families, is based on the research that shows that kids who read four or more books over the summer months can avoid the "summer slide," or the loss of reading skills due simply to being out of school.  Read more at Scholastic's website.