Reach Out and Read Illinois

Rory The Lion & Friends Campaign

Building a Beloved Character for Literacy and Family Health Campaigns Across Illinois

Reach Out and Read Illinois (ROR IL) is a statewide initiative of the American Academy of Pediatrics that works to integrate early literacy guidance into pediatric care. By training clinicians to share books and reading tips during well-child visits, ROR IL helps families build literacy-rich home environments from the very beginning. Their goal is to make reading a joyful part of every child’s daily routine, starting at birth.

THE ASK

THE APPROACH

THE RESULTS

Building a Character-Driven Approach to Early Literacy in Illinois

ROR IL approached Ocreative with an ambitious vision: create a comprehensive campaign to inspire families to read aloud with their children and support school readiness through pediatric care. The cornerstone of this effort would be a new character that could guide children and parents through the program in a fun, meaningful, and lasting way. The character needed to resonate with kids from birth to age five, while acting as a friendly ambassador for literacy and family health, for now and into the future.

Developing Rory the Lion: A Character to Inspire Literacy and Family Health

Together with the ROR IL team, we concepted, developed, and introduced Rory the Lion, a lovable, reading-obsessed lion who anchors the Graduation Kit experience. With Rory at the helm, we crafted a full suite of custom campaign assets, from brand-new characters and storyline to fully original, developmentally aligned activity content. This wasn’t just about a mascot, it was about establishing a long-term narrative and voice for ROR IL’s family-facing outreach.

We developed the following:

Rory and Friends, an original illustrated character universe designed to grow with the program
A fully illustrated, developmentally aligned Activity Booklet packed with learning-rich exercises including coloring pages, dot-to-dots, perforated bookmarks and paper dolls, and a kindergarten graduation certificate
A Parent Guide that uses Rory and team to model how caregivers can create literacy-rich routines at home
A Reading Adventure Map Poster and Photo Frame Prop to support clinic-based celebration and engagement
A custom landing page on ROR IL’s new website to anchor the campaign and make materials accessible to families and clinicians
Integrated campaign planning to support use of Rory as a “spokesperson” for future ROR IL and ICAAP family health initiatives

Each creative element was built from scratch, with every word, character, and activity designed to support literacy, spark imagination, and create lasting joy around reading aloud.

More Pages From Rory The Lion Activity Book

THE RESULTS

Rory quickly became a joyful face of literacy across Illinois. The Graduation Kit, distributed in bundles to clinics statewide, gave pediatricians everything they needed to guide families through school readiness conversations. Parents received clear, encouraging resources. Children received interactive tools and stories that made literacy feel playful and exciting. Clinicians received a fully integrated campaign system to support engagement during visits.

More than just a one-time initiative, Rory has become a long-term ally in reaching families with health and literacy information, and is already being woven into new family-facing campaigns across ICAAP.

With Rory at their side, Reach Out and Read Illinois is building not just readers, but confident little learners ready to thrive in kindergarten and beyond.