hyphenation anxiety

Today is World Read Aloud Day.

I wonder if the name requires hyphenation.

World Read-Aloud Day or World Read Aloud Day?

The link for the event says no hyphen.

I will have to ask c/e hellskitchen.

I suspect the hyphenated version makes more sense because read-aloud seems more of a noun form than read aloud, which seems like an imperative -- a command to the world to read aloud.

World: I command you to read aloud!

Who would act like that toward Planet Earth?

or:

World, let's have a read-aloud.

Eh.

Now I think read-aloud sounds dumb.

Like sing-along.

Okay, I'll admit it. I think too much.

The truth is, I am going to read aloud to about 200 kids today. And I am going to let them tell me -- no, command me -- to read (aloud) the book of their choice.

And they will get to choose from the following list of titles, just because I happen to want to read parts of these books (aloud):

• Rotters, by Daniel Kraus
• Everybody Sees the Ants, by A.S. King
• The Raft, by S.A. Bodeen

...And then there are three of my own books from which they can choose, too:

• Passenger (fall 2012, published by Feiwel and Friends)
• Winger (spring 2013, published by Simon and Schuster)
• The book whose title I am not yet going to reveal on my blog, but will gladly tell the kids (fall 2013, published by a house I will not yet reveal on my blog, but will gladly tell the kids)

If it kills you to think that I will likely be reading one of my favorite parts of Passenger (aloud) today, that is gratifying.

Now, go read aloud, please.

So... tell me, you are going to read aloud today too, right?

Anne, help me.

You know how I am with hyphens.

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