Who We Are
Our Vision.
A world where every child has the relationships essential to learn and thrive.
Our Mission.
Strengthen all families with young children through guidance from medical clinicians
about nurturing relationships through shared reading.
Our Model.
Reach Out and Read is the only national early literacy organization working directly with pediatric care providers to share the lifelong benefits that result from families reading aloud to their children every day. We know that nurturing, language-rich interactions like reading aloud together give young children a foundation for success. By integrating these experiences into pediatric care and providing the tools and encouragement families need to read aloud together, we can transform pediatric care practices and give children of all backgrounds and means a better start to life.
The Reach Out and Read program begins in infancy and continues through age five, with a special emphasis on children growing up in low-income communities. Pediatric teams provide new, age- and language appropriate books and share literacy advice with children and parents at each well-child visit. The program is both cost-effective, and evidence-based: research shows that Reach Out and Read results in more frequent reading at home, more enjoyment by families reading together, and accelerated language development. The effectiveness of our model is recognized by the American Academy of Pediatrics in a policy statement that recommends early literacy promotion as an essential component of pediatric care.
Reach Out and Read is a national nonprofit that champions the positive effects of reading daily and engaging in other language-rich activities with young children. Reading together promotes healthy brain development, furthers language acquisition, and helps families build meaningful bonds.