The Raising A Reader mission is to foster healthy brain development, parent-child bonding and early literacy skills critical for school success by engaging parents in a routine of daily “book cuddling” with their children from birth to age five. This mission addresses a national need for effective early literacy programs. One in three children entering kindergarten lacks basic pre-reading skills, which are proven to be a key factor in determining high-school graduation and lifelong success.

The National Book Bag Movement
Raising A Reader affiliates across the country instill a love of reading in children that lasts a lifetime. Based on a proven theory of change, Raising A Reader is a child-driven program encompassing early childhood educators, parents and librarians in a coordinated “read-aloud” effort. Each week, bright red book bags filled with beautiful picture books are rotated into homes. The book bag and its contents quickly become a child's favorite toy. The result is an irresistible request: “Please read to me!”

Early childhood professionals are taught ways to engage parents in “read-aloud” strategies anchored to language development research and storytelling traditions. These approaches can help to inspire low-literacy or limited English-speaking families to share books with their children. The program and its materials are age-appropriate and tailored to suit the diverse cultural traditions, ethnic and linguistic demographics present in United States today.

To learn more about the Raising A Reader Theory of Change, click here.

Impact and Results
Upon entering kindergarten, Head Start children using Raising A Reader tested at least twice as high as the national Head Start norm for book knowledge and story comprehension. In various independent evaluations, parents reported a 471 percent increase in time spent sharing stories with their children (five or more times a week), and Spanish-speaking families increased library visits with their children by 300 percent.

Raising A Reader National Headquarters
Raising A Reader’s national headquarters is a California nonprofit, public-benefit corporation. It is a supporting organization of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

The organization's national headquarters provides program support and technical assistance to all affiliates in the nationwide network. To learn more about the Raising A Reader Affiliate Network contact us at 650.450.5566.