"I am a child with eyes, hands, a voice, a heart and rights."

So starts the book, I Have the Right to Be a Child, this years' spotlight for the annual One World, Many Stories literacy event taking place at Red Cedar Elementary School on Friday, March 22, 2013.

A community-based program in collaboration with MSU, East Lansing Public Library, Target, and Red Cedar Elementary School, this initiative promotes family reading practices with interactive events that expose children to a variety of cultures and ideas. Selected books from the past five years have highlighted the importance of community participation, global citizenship and intercultural understanding.

Written by Alain Serres, illustrated by Aurelia Fronty and printed by Groundwood Books, I Have the Right to Be a Child speaks to human rights - specifically those outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child - through the voices and pictures of children around the world.

Along with a reading of the book, the event will feature a musical performance by Grammy Award-winning artist and Detroit native Barbara Bailey Hutchison and the unveiling of a painting created by the children of Red Cedar Elementary School. This collaborative art project will reside permanently in the East Lansing Public Library.

Community members are welcome to attend this event, with pizza on sale for dinner at 5:30pm, followed by the program at 6pm.

If you would like more information regarding the event, please contact Nicole Namy at (517) 353-1720, namynico@msu.edu, or Phyllis Thode at (517) 351-2420, pthode@cityofeastlansing.com