When summer rolls around, reading might be the last thing on the minds of school children and parents alike. One Alabama nonprofit is working to change this, starting in doctors’ offices around the state.
Reach Out and Read Alabama is a nonprofit aiming to integrate shared reading into pediatric care by providing books and coaching that help families with young children make reading together a part of their daily lives. The organization’s program, Rx for Summer Reading, is celebrating its 15th anniversary with birthday parties across the state.
Rx for Summer Reading’s campaigns have featured a hungry caterpillar, dancing barnyard animals, a big red dog in a storm, dinosaurs celebrating birthdays and more. To celebrate their 15th “birthday,” “Curious George and the Birthday Surprise” is the face of this year’s festivities.
Birthday parties are set to be hosted at doctor’s offices and clinics around the state with presents, decorations, birthday cakes and books. The last event is set for August 6 with parties happening since the beginning of July.
Amy Crosby is the statewide coordinator for Reach Out and Read Alabama. She said program is important for families that may not have access to books through the traditional means.
“There's a lot of families in Alabama that don't have access to libraries because of transportation and other barriers and may not have books in the home,” Crosby said. “The pediatrician comes from a place of authority, so we like when they impress upon the family of how important [reading together] is.”
More than just giving away books to families, Crosby said the program is beneficial for creating positive relationships between healthcare professionals and their young patients.
“Our pediatricians are trained to be able to talk to families about how important [reading] is,” Crosby said. “These are only well child visits. So. those are often the visits where the child is getting immunizations and things like that. They're not the most fun. This is another way of like encouraging the family to have a positive feeling about going to their doctor and maintaining those well child visits.”
Reading is shown to be beneficial to children throughout early childhood and beyond, helping them with language development, empathy and emotional awareness and strengthening the parent-child bond.
Crosby said the program is meant to help children and families read together, and if they start the program early, by the time they age out they will have a collection of up to 14 books.
For more information on Reach Out and Read’s Rx for Summer Reading campaign or a list of the locations for their Curious George birthday parties, click here.