NY Time Best-Selling Author Peter Reynolds Partners With The Boch Center For International Dot Day, September 15

As millions of people around the globe are preparing to celebrate International Dot Day this month, a grassroots “creativity and courage” movement, New York Times #1 best-selling children's book author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds - whose best-selling picture book The Dot inspired the worldwide event - is coming to the Boch Center. International Dot Day inspires young and old to embrace the power of personal creativity to help make their mark on the world and move it to a better place. 

 

On Friday, September 15, 2023, at 1:00PM ET, Reynolds will be joined in person at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre by more than 1,200 students and educators from schools across Massachusetts from Norton to Boston. While the event is not open to the public, it will be livestreamed to schools and libraries in over 100 countries, and recorded to share broadly with schools, teachers and community groups. Registration to the virtual event hosted by Microsoft Flip can be found here.

 

Press are invited to attend the Shubert Theatre event, please RSVP to darren@luca-pr.com for access.

 

“It is an honor and a privilege to form a new strategic partnership with Peter Reynolds and his team,” said Josiah A. Spaulding, President & CEO of the Boch Center. “We have been using Peter's books as a part of our Interactive Reading series for years. We are so excited!”

 

“I've celebrated Dot Day all over the world, but to be doing it here in Boston at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre - on the 20th anniversary of my book The Dot - is an absolute thrill,” said Peter Reynolds. “We share the same belief as Joe and his team at Boch Center that the arts heal. At a time there is so much divineness, it's important to "connect the dots” and find a universal language that allows us to live together in peace - to be inspired to use our creativity to make a difference in the world.”

 

International Dot Day began when Iowa teacher Terry Shay introduced his classroom to Reynolds' book, and noticed the original publishing date of The Dot was September 15, 2003. Shay and his students decided to celebrate the book's birthday – and, little did they know, launched what would become a worldwide celebration of creativity and courage to “make your mark.”

 

Exploring the themes of creativity, bravery and self-expression, The Dot is a story of a perceptive and caring teacher who reaches a reluctant student who thinks she can't draw by encouraging her to be brave enough to “just make a mark and see where it takes you.”  The Dot has been translated into many languages (including Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Hebrew, Spanish and even Braille) and the animated film of The Dot (produced by Reynolds' multimedia design and development firm FableVision Studios and co-producer Scholastic) earned the Carnegie Medal of Excellence. 

After launching in 2009, International Dot Day garnered increasing attention, simply through word of mouth, in schools, libraries, and communities around the globe. By 2011, registrations had reached 17,500 participants in several states. Noticing the phenomenon, The Reynolds Center for Teaching, Learning, & Creativity (ReynoldsTLC.org), Reynolds' nonprofit educational R&D and creative learning support center, helped provide program support for the worldwide Dot Day event. The organization built and manages the International Dot Day website (www.internationaldotday.org), which provides free registration for the event, along with many free resources, including downloadable Dot Day Educator's Handbook, multilingual posters, and an official participation certificate. With the Reynolds Center's help, participation soared past the 850,000 mark in 2012 – and, by 2013 involvement grew to 1.3 million participants in 84 countries. The count now stands at over 28 million in over 190 countries. 

 

The upcoming International Dot Day event is a part of a new ongoing partnership between the Boch Center and FableVision/ Reynolds Center TLC. The partnership includes a February 2024 celebration on World Read Aloud Day, a day that celebrates the power of reading aloud to create community, amplify new stories and advocate for literacy as a foundational human right. World Read Aloud Day is a global movement of millions of readers, writers, and listeners from communities across the world coming together to honor the joy and power of reading and sharing stories and expand the definition and scope of global literacy. The organizations will also partner on future Boch Center Interactive Readings programs. Through innovative storytelling techniques, the Boch Center brings these stories to life in Boston-area neighborhoods with our professional teaching artists. In the last few years, the Boch Center has visited community and local sites such as Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston Centers for Youth and Families, Boston Public Libraries, Boys & Girls Clubs, early education centers, and hospitals in the Boston area. To date, Interactive Readings have reached nearly 8,000 children.

 

The Boch Center is one of the nation's leading nonprofit performing arts institutions and a guardian of the historic Wang and Shubert Theatres. As New England's largest cultural venue, the Boch Center is home to theater, classical and popular music, dance, comedy, opera, Broadway musicals, family entertainment, and more. Located in Boston's historic Theater District, the Boch Center also offers a diverse mix of educational, cultural and community outreach initiatives, including the City Spotlights Leadership Program and the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame; collaborates with artists and local nonprofit arts organizations; preserves historic venues; and acts as a champion for Greater Boston's arts and cultural community. Learn more at bochcenter.org.

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