“Humane Heroes Storytime” Series of Free Videos Reading to Children to Teach Them Value of Animals
President of Country’s First National Humane Organization Reads Award-winning Series of Books to Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Offering Parents a Few Minutes of Relief, and Teaching Kids to Be Kind to Animals
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 23, 2020 – American families have been sheltering in place for some time now, and between trying to work at home while children are bouncing off the walls and worries that the kids will start falling behind in their studies, parents – and restless children – could really use a little extra help.
Coming to the rescue is Dr. Robin Ganzert, the president and CEO of American Humane, the country’s first national humane organization with an offer to take the kids off their hands for a few blessed minutes each day and help them grow in knowledge and character by reading to them in a new series of free, online videos.
Starting today, Ganzert, who honed her reading skills with her own three children, will regale youngsters with stories from the “Humane Heroes” series of award-winning books she conceived, introducing elementary, middle-school and high-school kids to remarkable, endangered and disappearing animals around the world, and helping teach them the value of kindness and conservation.
The series of free books were created by American Humane and the publishers of the popular Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books. Through inspirational stories of animal rescue, rehabilitation, and species preservation being performed at the world’s leading zoological institutions, children will meet charming and beautiful characters like “Nickel,” a 200-pound Sea Turtle who needed a helping fin after being struck by a boat, a baby cheetah named Kasi who was orphaned and found a special friend, and a penguin who was able to walk again with the help of a famous aquarium, some middle school students, and a 3-D printer.
Stories Now Available Free Online
The first 12 stories in the video series are available at www.AmericanHumane.org/StoryTime and are drawn from Volume I for elementary school age children. Stories from Volume II and III for older students will also be available so that they can take a break from the virtual world and dive into a book.
“I always loved reading to my own children,” said Dr. Ganzert. “Now, I have a chance to read to many more and help them understand and appreciate how wonderful our animal friends are.”
If parents want their children to read the “Humane Heroes” series of books themselves, or to read the books to their children, all three volumes are available at the link above, along with professionally developed lesson plans developed by teacher-trusted Resources for Learning and tied to English Language Arts (ELA) and social and emotional learning (SEL) skills.
“American Humane has been teaching children about the value of treating animals well for more than a century,” said Ganzert. “We hope that during this time when children are out of school and looking for things to do that these videos, and the e-copies of our Humane Heroes books and curricula can bring families together with an enjoyable activity, keep kids’ learning on track, and help cultivate a new generation of animal advocates for the beautiful creature with whom we share the world.”
“Humane Heroes” won a national 2020 “Teachers’ Choice Award for the Classroom” from Learning Magazine (Vol. I), and is garnering praised from leading animal experts and advocates, including TV personality, wildlife biologist and conservationist Jeff Corwin, who said, “The Humane Heroes series of books about the critically important work being done to preserve Earth’s remarkable and endangered animals in today’s zoos and aquariums is not only educational and fun but should be required reading for all our children. I strongly recommend them!”
“Humane Heroes Story Time” and free copies of the Humane Heroes books and curricula are all available at www.AmericanHumane.org/StoryTime.
