More than 620,000 children worldwide have signed up to celebrate International Dot Day in their classrooms around September 15. And, I’m sure that number will grow as the day approaches. In the U.S., kids in all 50 states have signed up. It’s inspiring that so many children (and grown-up kids) will be using their imaginations to draw special dot creations during this global event. And, this is a perfect time to issue a challenge to all the KidLit bloggers to make and publish a dot on their websites Sept. 15-ish.
Peter H. Reynolds, author and illustrator, published The Dot, on Sept. 15, 2003. The book is about a girl who doesn’t think she can draw. The idea for International Dot Day grew out of this powerful story and has become an annual event, with more kids participating each year. This is a wonderful opportunity to help kids “open their eyes to the world of creativity and self-worth,” says Terry Shay, Dot Day Ambassador. Shay is a teacher who is passionate about the event and the enthusiastic educators who make this event happen in their schools.
If you are a teacher and want to participate, there is still time to sign up your students at http://fablevisionlearning.com/dotday/signup.html. If you are a student and want to participate, talk with your teacher and parent.
Visit http://fablevisionlearning.com/dotday/ to learn more about International Dot Day, activity suggestions, resources, a global map showing participants and a peek at the dots being created by celebrities. There also is a Facebook page devoted to International Dot Day with frequent updates.
Children's Books Heal 
This is such a cool idea! And so funny because years ago, when my step-son was little, that was how he drew – all dots!
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Susuanna, this is a wonderful idea. Great your step-son ound his own creative way to express himself.
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International Dot Day sounds like fun! I’ll be looking for this book for my guys and then we’ll see where it leads. Thanks, Pat!
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Heather that is great! I thought everyone was familiar with this book. It’s a beautiful story about perseverance and self-worth.
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Love the book and the day. Glad you are promoting it here, Pat!
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Joanna, me too! Thought about encouraging Kidlit bloggers to post their dot on their websites.
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I would LOVE to see kidlit bloggers post their dots!!! Also, I wanted to point people to my site http://www.celebridots.com which features dots made by famous authors/illustrators. I got the idea for this site when the lovely Sharon Creech sent me a dot last Dot Day!!
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Terry, I had mentioned something to Peter about KidLit bloggers posting their dots on their websites. Since Sept. 15 is on Saturday, do you want them posted on the date or can they be posted on Sept. 14?
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The official date is September 15-ish!! Post them before or after, no worries! My school may be celebrating on September 13!
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Am going to add it into my bog post, there will be more who read it in coming days. Beth is also going to review The Dot and we’re talking too.
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Updated my blog and issued a challenge in bold in the first paragraph.
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I love the idea of this!! It’s very exciting. Thanks for spreading the word.
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Ruth, I’m hoping the KidLit bloggers promote this.
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Another great story involving dots is PRESS HERE by Herve Tullet. I’ll bet it would pair perfectly with THE DOT for story time. I did a review of PRESS HERE on my blog a while ago. http://nessamorris.com/2012/01/27/press-here
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Nessa, I remember your review. Great companion book. Tried clicking on the site youte provided and it didn’t appear.
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This is a wonderful idea. Also shows how marketing your book can open doors, inspire and evolve creative ideas. Interesting website the fablevision. Thanks Pat.
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Diane, I think the numbers may double before the day. I love the creative work Peter and is staff is doing at Fablevision.
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Sounds fun!! I’ve never heard of International Dot Day.
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Michelle, it started a few years ago. Two weeks ago, there were 65,000 kids signed up — now there are 176,000 and growing. This is going to be the biggest event ever. There is a map on the last website I listed, and it shows the world wide participants. The book is printed in many different languages.
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I’m delighted to see your promotion of International Dot Day, Pat! Just read on Terry Shay’s Twitter that The Day is now officially being celebrated in all fifty states and many countries outside the U.S.
What a great boost to kids’ creativity!
I’ve also given a shout-out to Fablevision on my blog today — great minds think alike.
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Thanks Beth. I knew the numbers would change by morning. I wouldn’t be surrised at the rate they are growing, that there will be over 300,000 participating. Just read your mention of Fablevision on your blog. We’ve done that a couple of times.
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You know, everyone can draw but not everyone can draw well. I do like this book though. How will you know what you can do unless you push those boundaries and learn to embrace failure or success?
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What I love about Peter’s books such as The Dot and Ish is that they celebrate every kid’s way of making art, whether the child can be considered traditionally “artistic” or not. (I would have loved to have had such encouragement when I was a child!)
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Great point Beth. Hope Michael reads it.
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Michael, as always I enjoy your comments and agree. It’s important to expose kids to all forms of art and creative expression. That’s why this day is important. Kids will be trying and there are no right or wrong ways.
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Pat!! Thank you so much for this blog post and for sharing “International Dot Day”! It’s nice to see one of my favorite projects on one of my favorite blogs!
It is so exciting to watch the numbers climb and, more importantly, to watch the creativity expressed by kids and teachers all around the world. It’s through the support of amazing people like you that this event has reached so many people. My deepest gratitude.
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Terry, you are welcome! I have been excited watching the numbers climb. My guess is you’ll have 300,000 signed up by Sept. 15. I really like the idea of schools connecting with each other and connecting the dots — that is really cool! You’ve done a great job and wanted to mention that you were behind this day. – Pat
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Wonderful!
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I’ll be blogging my Dot, as well. http://writeroutine.blogspot.com Thanks for the info!
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Marcie, that’s great. There will be a group of us making a Dot. You can sign up or make sure you have your Dot released on twitter so Fablevision sees it
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I will have to look into this! Sounds great Patricia.
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Coleen, I hope you make a Dot. If so, make sure you sign up or publish on Twitter so Fablevision will see it on your blog. You can read their comments below. A number of us in our group will make Dots.
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WOW! Thanks for telling me about this! Josie and I will make Dots and post them on our blos 🙂
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Erik, that’s great. You can even sign up and enter them on his website. Click on the link.
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Pat…thank you SOOOOO much for directing me here…I will definitely do a DOT with Jeremy before I leave. We worked on quite a few arts and crafts projects…but this is perfect…I love the driving force behind International Dot Day…open kids’ eyes to the world of creativity and self-worth…can’t get better than that!
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Great! Make sure you publicize on twitter so they see the KidLit blogger support– especially Peter Reynolds, T.J. Shay and Fablevision. All have accounts.
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Thought you might enjoy participating in International Dot Day with Jeremy. You are so good with craft ideas. Love your creativity.
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I really do appreciate the heads-up…I checked it out and we did do something…I’ll post it soon…just got home from New Hampshire a couple of hours ago and it is pretty late. 🙂
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Great. I think we’ll start seeing people start posting Wed-Fri. Beth did a dot for 9/11 and posted it on FB. She has another for her blog post on Saturday.
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Terri, this isn’t the official site for Dot Day. Here’s the site: http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/. Loved your dot and thanks for joining in.
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