Jennifer Garner, along with pal Amy Adams, have announced new initiative #SaveWithStories. Spearheaded by Save The Children and No Kid Hungry, the fund’s dedicated Instagram account is packed with celebrities who have joined the effort to raise money and provide support for the 30 million US children who rely on school for food (not to mention education) and are affected by the coronavirus crisis.
While the whole world migrates online, adjusting to the rapidly evolving situation and in line with social distancing, #SaveWithStories is one of the dark cloud’s most silver linings. Sometimes, the internet is a magical place – and you don’t have to be school age to enjoy watching Jen read Ken Geist’s The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark, that’s for sure.
Once you’ve followed the trials and victories of that ocean trio, you might like to move on to Amy Adam’s rendition of The Dinosaur Princess – which happens to have been written by her nine-year-old daughter, Aviana Olea, and illustrated by her husband Darren Le Gallo. And with stories in the pipeline from Natalie Portman, Jimmy Fallon and Reese Witherspoon, the soothing scope of @SaveWithStories is an almost inexhaustible resource and growing.
Meanwhile, #OperationStorytime sees even more resources available to bored kids (and cranky adults), delivering authors and illustrators as well as celebrities to homes across the world. Eva Chen reads her inimitable Juno Valentine and the Magical Shoes; Josh Gad, who voices Frozen’s Olaf, posted a video of himself reading The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. Across diverse platforms – Facebook Live, Twitter, YouTube – the hashtag collects a delightful assortment of narrators bringing their books to life.
Hard to argue that one can ever have too many stories, and we’ve compiled some favourites below. Share them far and wide, and settle in – kids optional.