Pottery Barn Kids, PBS Kids, court bookworms

SAN FRANCISCO — Pottery Barn Kids, part of Williams-Sonoma’s brands portfolio, has launched its Summer Reading Challenge in partnership with PBS Kids.

The challenge, which runs through August 26, is designed to promote a love of learning and literacy in kids and their families throughout the summer months. It also draws foot traffic into its brick and mortar stores, and is an exercise in brand awareness, as young children will recognize the brand and associate it with the reading challenge, making them potential future customers.

Participating children will be challenged to read 14 hand-selected books. Each book was chosen based on favorites identified by Pottery Barn Kids customers. The brand will also offer a collection of engaging tools aimed to inspire young readers and help parents track and celebrate the challenge milestones. Tools include the official book list, a book mark and an at-home reading tracking poster. Children who complete the book list and bring it to a Pottery Barn Kids location will receive a free book, or parents can enter their child into an online drawing for a backpack full of books. They will also receive a Summer Reading Challenge certificate of completion.

“This program is designed to help parents encourage learning all summer long and foster a lifetime love of reading in their children,” said Sandra Stangl, president of Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen. “We’re thrilled to play a part in helping to motivate and support the next generation of readers and creative thinkers.”

Special Story Time events with character appearances and giveaways in partnership with PBS Kids will also be hosted at Pottery Barn Kids stores throughout the country through August 26.

Pottery Barn Kids operates 85 retail stores in the U.S. and Canada and 84 stores in the Middle East. The brand is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif.