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Random House's Grinch campaign encourages children to do selfless deeds over the holidays

The Grinch campaign, also known as 'Grow Your Heart 3 Sizes,' encourages children to do good deeds in exchange for book donations.

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Courtesy of Warner Home Video
Dr. Seuss's Grinch steals the Whos' holiday toys before his change of heart in the animated special based on the Seuss book.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

One of the most famous lines in Dr. Seuss’s classic holiday picture book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” is the description of how the grumpy Grinch’s heart grows “three sizes” when he learns to truly appreciate the selfless values of the holidays. 

So Random House Children’s Books took that line as inspiration for their new campaign titled “Grow Your Heart 3 Sizes.” Beginning Dec. 1, the publisher is encouraging children to make thoughtful gestures as part of the holiday season during its “25 Days of Grinch-mas.” If a child fills out a card listing three good acts he or she completed and sends the card to the publisher, Random House will donate a new book to the area where the child lives. Bookstores across the country will be creating events based on the campaign and its message. Kids can get the card at participating retailers.

“Amidst all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we wanted to reinforce the message that Christmas is not all about giving gifts, but about doing things from the heart, and creating a sense of family and community, which sometimes gets lost,” executive director of Random House Children’s Books marketing Kerri Benvenuto told Publishers Weekly. “We thought this holiday season was the perfect time to launch this campaign, given all the community efforts we saw in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, when people really came together.”

North Carolina-based Shelley Hobson owns the toy shop Learning Express, which has a sizable book section. She has hosted three Grinch events already and told Publishers Weekly she was very impressed with the response from customers. Hobson and her team created three Grinch events over two days, two at her store’s two locations and one at her local children’s museum in Wilmington.

“We had big crowds at each [store] event, and as many as several hundred at the museum,” Hobson said. “The staff all wore ‘I Grew My Heart 3 Sizes’ buttons, we read ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas!’ twice, families had their pictures taken with the Grinch, and we had a young actress dressed up as Cindy-Lou Who, who did a great job warming the kids up. The cool thing is that the Grinch is multigenerational now, and we had lots of parents and grandparents who are fans. It was a great way to kick off the holidays.”

To see if your local bookstore is participating, check out the Grinch-mas website.

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