One Word at a Time

09/15/2026

📚🎉 Get ready to turn up the excitement for reading & writing!

Join us, Beanstack, and One Word at a Time (founded by Kwame Alexander) for the Literacy Pep Rally — a LIVE, FREE, VIRTUAL event packed with:

✨ Book talks
🎮 Games
🎤 A real-time Q&A with author Kwame Alexander + special guests Lisa Yee, TZ Layton, and Nikki Shannon Smith!

📅 Tuesday, Sept. 15
⏰ 1:00 PM ET

Don’t miss the ultimate pep rally for literacy!

🔗 Reserve your spot at onewordcommunity.org

09/05/2026

What?! NIKKI SHANNON SMITH is coming to the pep rally?! YESSSS!

Nikki is the award-winning author of nearly 30 published and forthcoming books, ranging from board books to young adult novels. Her most recent middle grade titles include DEEP SECRETS: A TITANIC NOVEL and STRANDED, with two more on the way in 2027. Plus, Nikki is an educator with 30+ years of experience in all levels; she knows how to get young people pumped up for reading and writing!

Sign up now to join Kwame, TZ, and our other special guests, Lisa Yee and Nikki Shannon Smith, to kick off the reading year right.

The Literacy Pep Rally is a FREE livestream event on Tuesday, September 15, 1:00 - 1:30 pm EST. All registered attendees get access to the recording for two weeks, too.

Shout out to our sponsor, Beanstack, a Joyful Reading Company, for ensuring this event can be free and open to anyone!

🔗 Sign up at www.onewordcommunity.org

09/04/2026

Are you planning to kick back with a book at some point this holiday weekend? First, take a minute to consider how many kids out there don't think reading is for them... yet.

Maybe they haven't found the right book. Maybe no one has ever made them feel like a reader. Maybe they just need one author to look them in the eye — even through a screen — and say: this story is yours.

That's what Author Study does. We're days away from the end of our annual campaign, and we're halfway to our $85,000 goal — which means we're halfway to reaching more of those kids this school year. Can you pitch in?

The campaign closes on Labor Day, September 7. If you've been meaning to give, now is the time!

Gifts of $100 or more include the option to nominate a classroom you care about. But any gift, at any level, is a yes to a kid who needs one. Every dollar has impact!

Together, let's change the world, one word at a time.

Thank you.
Kwame, Tori, Michelle, & the OWAAT team

09/03/2026

TZ LAYTON is in the house!

His award-winning ACADEMY series has been tearing up the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. And he’s got a new book coming in October, Doubles, the first book in the Silver Beach High series. This is a multi-talented author, y’all, who writes adult fiction under the name Layton Green – while also maintaining his life as a soccer dad, youth coach, former collegiate player, and lifelong fan of the beautiful game.

Sign up now to join Kwame, TZ, and our other special guests, Lisa Yee and Nikki Shannon Smith, to kick off the reading year right.

The Literacy Pep Rally is a FREE livestream event on Tuesday, September 15, 1:00 - 1:30 pm EST. All registered attendees get access to the recording for two weeks, too.

Shout out to our sponsor, Beanstack, a Joyful Reading Company, for ensuring this event remains free and open to anyone!

🔗 Sign up at www.onewordcommunity.org

09/01/2026

LISA YEE is coming to our Literacy Pep Rally! You'll be there, too, right?!

Lisa's most recent novels are the New York Times Bestsellers -- THE MISFITS series, about a group of awkward undercover crime fighters. You may also know her for other groundbreaking middle grade novels, including Maizy Chen's Last Chance - which is a Newbery Honor book, National Book Award Finalist, and winner of the Asian Pacific American Children's Literature Award -- and the beloved Millicent Min, Girl Genius; Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time; and the DC Super Hero Girls series.

Sign up now to join Kwame, Lisa, and our other special guests, TZ Layton and Nikki Shannon Smith, to kick off the reading year right.

The Literacy Pep Rally is a FREE livestream event on Tuesday, September 15, 1:00 - 1:30 pm EST. All registered attendees get access to the recording for two weeks, too.

Shout out to our sponsor, Beanstack, a Joyful Reading Company, for ensuring this event can be free and open to anyone!

🔗 Sign up at www.onewordcommunity.org

08/31/2026

We're in the final week of our 1,000 Schools campaign! 40% of our goal has been reached -- and 100,000 students are waiting. Every dollar you give provides a chance for a child to meet authors, discover the joy of reading, and set on a path to lifelong literacy. Now's the time to pitch in! Please give before September 7th.
🔗www,onewordcommunity.org/1000schools

08/18/2026

Y'all are coming to the LITERACY PEP RALLY, right? Thirty minutes guaranteed to get your students excited about reading.

📖Read-alouds. 🎯Fun and games. 🤩Real-time Q&A with KWAME ALEXANDER and his guests, LISA YEE, TZ LAYTON, and NIKKI SHANNON SMITH.

📅Join the fun on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
⏰1:00 - 1:30 pm EST / 10:00 - 10:30 PST

Fully virtual, fully interactive, fully FREE.

(And because we know scheduling is sometimes tough, you get access to the recording for two full weeks after.)

🔗Reserve your spot at onewordcommunity.org today!

A huge thank you to our sponsor, — the leading solution for motivating people to read. Beanstack uses competition, recognition, and proven gamification principles to grow community reading culture. They're all about joyful reading, just like One Word at a Time, and just like you!

ONE WORD AT A TIME, INC, founded by award-winning, bestselling author KWAME ALEXANDER, is a 501(c)(3) that advances literacy for middle grade learners by inspiring joyful reading and writing. We connect kids and authors to make reading irresistibly fun! With dynamic virtual author visits for student...

08/17/2026

Last summer, we launched One Word at a Time with a clear mission: To spark middle-grade students' reading motivation by connecting them with real authors. Because of your generous support, we reached 55,000 students across nearly 400 schools with our flagship program, Author Study.

This year, we want to be in 1,000 schools. You can keep this good thing going with a gift of $25, $500, $2,500... what's the value of reading to you?

Our 1,000 Schools Campaign is live today. Every dollar funds our mission — and if you give $100 or more, you can nominate a classroom to receive Author Study this school year. Givers of $1,000+ can nominate an entire school!

The mission is critical. And so is your support. Let's go!

🔗 onewordcommunity.org/1000schools

07/23/2026

Every child deserves to meet the people behind the books they love.

That's not just a tagline. It's a belief that drives every Author Study session we produce; every author we invite; and every school, library, and home we reach.

Year two of Author Study is coming — and it's going to be bigger, deeper, and more joyful than year one. Want to be part of it?

🔗 Link in bio to learn more, sign up, or support the work.

07/21/2026

Children who read for fun don't just score higher on tests — they show stronger emotional resilience, greater empathy, better sleep, and more confidence. But access to the experiences that spark reading for pleasure — author visits, well-stocked libraries, reading role models — has never been evenly distributed.

That's the inequity Author Study is built to address. Every kid deserves a reason to love books.

🙌 Ready to activate this superpower? Registration is open for the 2026-27 season of Author Study at authorstudy.com (link in bio).