About Books for Kids
Books for Kids operate on one simple and astounding fact: being read to as a youngster is the foremost predictor of academic success in childhood. If a child can read at grade level by 3rd grade, she will continue to read at grade level throughout her academic career. A child who succeeds in school will remain there, earning a chance at a better job and a better life in the years ahead. A child who lacks early exposure to reading often suffers from low self-esteem, struggles academically, and is at higher risk for substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and delinquency. Succeeding begins with reading.
Children with literacy problems typically come from low-income families, have no books at home, and have caregivers who are not aware of the importance of reading to their children. Yet studies have proven, beyond dispute, that access to age-appropriate books and reading aloud to children are essential to developing language and reading skills.
Books for Kids will place new books into the hands of at-risk children through collaborations with schools, social service agencies, preschools, and early childhood centers.
Our Mission Statement
Guided by the fact that literacy is essential to lifelong success, Books for Kids provides new books and develops reading activities that empower at-risk children.
Serving children from primarily low-income families, Books for Kids collaborates with primary schools, tutoring programs, and other preschool programs, libraries, migrant centers, homeless shelters, and teen parenting programs to improve the reading and language skills of at-risk children.