Scholastic Storyvoice: Free Live Author Events for Your Classroom (Full Fall 2026 Schedule)

Scholastic Storyvoice is back for the new school year, and the fall lineup is the strongest I have seen. R.L. Stine the day before Halloween. Raina Telgemeier and Gale Galligan for the new Baby-sitters Club. Peter H. Reynolds in November. All of it is free. All of it is live. Every event is recorded, so a bad time slot is not a dealbreaker.

I am a full time teacher and an instructional technology coach. This is one of the few free tools I recommend without a caveat. Below you will find the full schedule through December. After that comes the research on reading aloud, and fifteen ways to use one of these in a classroom.

What is Scholastic Storyvoice?

Storyvoice is Scholastic’s free online platform for live author events and read aloud shows for kids. Here is what you are signing up for:

• Free live author and illustrator events, streamed most Fridays during the school year
• Read alouds, draw alongs, and live question and answer sessions with the author
• Works on any computer, tablet or phone. Most teachers just project it on the board
• Recordings are usually posted within 24 hours. The live time does not have to fit your schedule
• Requires a free Scholastic account and nothing else. There is no per student cost. There is no school subscription

Why read alouds matter, even for students who can already read?

We tend to treat read alouds as a primary grades thing, something you drop once students can read on their own. It is worth holding onto a lot longer than that, and here is why.

• The word gap does not close on its own. Students who reach fourth grade behind on vocabulary tend to keep falling behind in comprehension. The distance between the kids with a lot of words and the kids without gets wider every year, not smaller.
• A lot of their language growth happens away from the page. When a student’s decoding has not caught up to their thinking yet, most new words come in through listening. A book read well out loud is one of the best versions of that.
• They pick up words and meaning at the same time. A good read aloud grows vocabulary and comprehension together, and it does something a worksheet cannot. It makes them want the next chapter.
• It is listening and speaking practice, not just reading practice. Those are the first skills a packed literacy block quietly squeezes out. They are also exactly what a live author event is built around.
• Wanting to read is half the battle. An interested student will push through a harder book than a bored one will. A student who just met the author has a reason to open it.

The full Scholastic Storyvoice schedule, fall 2026

Every time below is Eastern. Events run most Fridays, with a few extras. If one lands during your math block, watch for the recording the next day.

Date	Time (ET)	Author	Book being read
Mon, Sep 21	12:30 pm	Kenan Thompson	Unfunny Bunny (recording available)
Fri, Sep 25	11:30 am	Jim Benton	Tot the Toad Makes a Mess
Fri, Sep 25	2:00 pm	Ben Clanton	This Book Is Dangerous! A Narwhal and Jelly Picture Book
Fri, Oct 2	2:00 pm	Raina Telgemeier and Gale Galligan	Baby-sitters on Board! The Baby-sitters Club Super Special #1
Fri, Oct 9	11:30 am	Jack Wong	Goodbye Koi
Fri, Oct 16	2:00 pm	Andy Elkerton	How to Catch a Witch
Wed, Oct 21	2:00 pm	Joe Troiano	The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin
Fri, Oct 23	11:30 am	Christy Mandin	Millie Fleur’s Pumpkin Problem
Fri, Oct 23	2:00 pm	G.G. McQueen and Michael Slack	Squash & Pumpkin: #SquashGoals
Fri, Oct 30	11:30 am	Rachel Michelle Wilson	To Catch a Ghost
Fri, Oct 30	2:00 pm	R.L. Stine	Goosebumps House of Shivers: What We Do at Night
Fri, Nov 6	2:00 pm	Malcolm Mitchell	My Super Duper Me
Fri, Nov 13	11:30 am	Ruby Amy Thompson	Rock and Roll
Fri, Nov 13	2:00 pm	Parker James	StEvEn and Parker: Dinos Are Forever!
Fri, Nov 20	time to be confirmed	Peter H. Reynolds	Our Table
Fri, Nov 20	2:00 pm	Pete Oswald	The Humble Pie
Fri, Dec 4	2:00 pm	Ashley Quach	Starring Sophie

15 ways to use a live author event in your classroom

You can absolutely just press play. But twenty minutes of prep turns it from a nice break into something you can point to in a lesson plan.

Before the event

• Pull the book from your library a few days early and leave it face out where students will see it
• Show the cover and have students predict what the story is about, then check the prediction afterward
• Have every student write one question for the author on an index card, even though most will not get asked
• Tell them ahead of time that they can ask a question. It changes how they listen
• Preview two or three words from the book they are unlikely to know

During the event

• Give every student a listening job, such as catching a word they do not know or noticing how the author uses their voice
• Offer both ways to participate, out loud and in the chat, so quieter students still get in
• Let students sketch while they listen if that is how they focus, especially during a draw along
• Name the craft moves out loud as they happen, the way the author builds suspense or lands a joke
• Resist narrating over it. Let the author have the floor

After the event

• Use the draw along as your art block, no extra planning needed
• Give a ten minute writing challenge in that author’s style. Several of them assign exactly that during the show
• Answer the unasked index card questions yourself as a class discussion
• Put the author’s other titles on display, because this is the week students will actually reach for them
• Have students compare the author’s reading to how they read the same page out loud. That is fluency practice that does not feel like fluency practice

The books, and each author’s greatest hits

The week a student meets an author is the week they will actually pick up that author’s other books. Here is what to have ready on the shelf.

• Ben Clanton, reading This Book Is Dangerous! on Sep 25. Also: Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea, Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt, Peanut Butter and Jelly
• Jim Benton, reading Tot the Toad Makes a Mess on Sep 25. Also: the Dear Dumb Diary series, the Franny K. Stein series, the Catwad series
• Raina Telgemeier and Gale Galligan, reading Baby-sitters on Board! on Oct 2. Raina also wrote Smile, Sisters, Guts, Drama and Ghosts. Gale wrote Freestyle and several Baby-sitters Club graphic novels. The Baby-sitters Club graphic novel box set is the one worth stocking
• Andy Elkerton, reading How to Catch a Witch on Oct 16. He illustrates the whole How to Catch series, a seasonal bestseller every year. How to Catch a Turkey and How to Catch a Leprechaun are the two that move fastest
• Joe Troiano, reading The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin on Oct 21. An October staple for anti-bullying lessons. It sells out early
• Christy Mandin, reading Millie Fleur’s Pumpkin Problem on Oct 23. Also: Millie Fleur’s Poison Garden and Millie Fleur’s Worst Day Ever
• R.L. Stine, reading Goosebumps House of Shivers: What We Do at Night on Oct 30. Also: the original Goosebumps titles, Night of the Living Dummy, Welcome to Dead House, and Fear Street for older readers
• Malcolm Mitchell, reading My Super Duper Me on Nov 6. Also: The Magician’s Hat and My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World
• Peter H. Reynolds, reading Our Table on Nov 20. Also: The Dot, Ish, The Word Collector and Happy Dreamer. The Dot is a back to school and International Dot Day staple
• Pete Oswald, reading The Humble Pie on Nov 20. Also: Hike. He also illustrates Jory John’s The Bad Seed, The Good Egg and The Cool Bean. Those three are SEL lesson workhorses
• Also in the lineup: Kenan Thompson with Unfunny Bunny, Jack Wong with Goodbye Koi, G.G. McQueen and Michael Slack with Squash & Pumpkin: #SquashGoals, Rachel Michelle Wilson with To Catch a Ghost, Ruby Amy Thompson with Rock and Roll, Parker James with StEvEn and Parker: Dinos Are Forever!, and Ashley Quach with Starring Sophie

Pick one Friday between now and Halloween and put it on your calendar. Twenty minutes. No prep. The students will ask when the next one is.

Frequently asked questions

Is Scholastic Storyvoice free?

Yes. Storyvoice is completely free for teachers, students and families. There is no school subscription and no per student cost. You only need a free Scholastic account to watch.

What grade levels is Storyvoice for?

The lineup ranges from picture books for the youngest readers to graphic novels and Goosebumps titles that suit upper elementary and middle school. Check the book being read for each event and pick the ones that match your class.

What if the live event time does not work for my schedule?

Watch the recording instead. Storyvoice usually posts recordings within 24 hours of the live event, so you can play it whenever it fits your day.

How do I sign up for a Storyvoice event?

Go to storyvoice.scholastic.com. Create a free Scholastic account, or sign in to the one you already have. Browse the upcoming events and pick one that fits your schedule. On the day, project it on your board and let it run.

Do students need their own devices or accounts?

No. Most teachers watch as a whole class on the board from the teacher’s account. Events also work on any computer, tablet or phone if you would rather have students watch individually.

Which Storyvoice event is best for Halloween?

R.L. Stine reads Goosebumps House of Shivers: What We Do at Night on Friday, October 30 at 2:00 pm Eastern, the day before Halloween. Rachel Michelle Wilson reads To Catch a Ghost that same morning at 11:30 am Eastern.