Worms, monsters, and hippos are only a few of the imaginative characters to appear in specially-marked Cheerios® this year as part of its Spoonfuls of Stories® program. Through the program, which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary, Cheerios is distributing six million bilingual children’s books from award-winning authors free inside cereal boxes. This week in Los Angeles, actress and mom Jennie Garth kicked off the anniversary celebration at a special reading event. Lack of access to books and educational materials is a major problem in the United States, especially in underprivileged communities. And, forty-two percent of children in the United States — more than 30 million — live in low-income households and don’t have age-appropriate books at home or at school. Cheerios recognize access to books as one barrier to literacy development, which is why it continues to distribute quality books inside boxes. To help put books into little hands that need them most, Cheerios will also give 50,000 children’s books and $300,000 to First Book, an award-winning literacy nonprofit.

read more: Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories®