Martellus Bennett in a full-on Batman costume shouldn’t surprise you. Well, if you’re familiar with the newest Green Bay Packers’ tight end, at least. The reason Bennett was dressed up as the Caped Crusader, Santa Claus and others in a video is because he has partnered with YouTube Kids for #ReadAlong month.
The campaign is meant to help children learn to not only read, but develop a passion for it. In an effort to accomplish that goal YouTube partnered with a number of major publishers including Houghton Mifflin, Penguin Random Roadhouse, HarperCollins, Harcourt and National Geographic Kids.
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The read-alongs won’t just feature static texts or images. Rather, there will be live images to go along with the storytelling. With the YouTube Kids app pulling millions of active viewers per week and kids growing up digitally-prone, the campaign makes sense.
Bennett created his own playlist on the app called “Daddy Daughter Story Time” which launched just this past week. This will hardly be his first go-around in terms of children’s literature. Last summer Bennett published his own book called, “Hey A.J. It’s Saturday!” The story was based on his daughter, Austin Jett.
Bennett is a strong advocate for being known as “not just a football player” — his book and partnership with YouTube Kids proves that.
Said Bennett in a June 2016 interview with patriots.com: “I think sometimes in life we learn that we’re only allowed to have one dream, but you can have more than one dream. You can accomplish more than one thing. That’s the biggest thing. You’re not just one thing. Don’t put yourself in a box. Become anything that you want to be.”