Parenting Pointers: Cheerios Books

Periodically, cereals will include books in the boxes. I think this is great. Kids love finding things in their cereal boxes, and it is a good move to help promote literacy.

Cheerios has been including one of five books in boxes of cereal for a few weeks. They are doing this as a way to nurture young minds as well as young bodies with cereal. I actually was just reading on a box of cereal that 9 out of 10 pediatricians with children use Cheerios as a finger food for toddlers. Why not? It's healthy, easy to grab, and doesn't make much mess. My one-year-old loves it - it's about the only finger food she'll eat right now!

More than six million books will be in boxes of Cheerios (while supplies last, obviously) through the Spoonfuls of Stories® program. The books are targeted to kids from three to eight, and are written in both English and Spanish. This is actually great for me, since I'm trying to learn Spanish - it give me practice too!

Cheerios recently conducted a survey about reading in families. Here are some results:
- 67% of moms said they read to their children at least once a day
- Nearly two-thirds (61%) said “busy schedules” prevent them from spending more time reading with their kids
- Eight in ten moms (81%) reported that they started reading to their child before their first birthday

I think it's great that the majority of moms read to kids on a regular basis, and that so many read early. But I also read in the survey results that lack of access to books is a bigger issue than people realize. In middle income neighborhoods, there are 13 age-appropriate books per child. But in low income neighborhoods, there are 300 children for every age appropriate book - yet nine in ten moms surveyed felt that everyone had easy access to books.

The truth is, people do. Libraries and schools provide reading opportunities for free. But many people don't - or can't - take advantage of that. Plus, family reading provides a benefit beyond what kids get in school. The Spoonfuls of Stories® program tries to help change that, with 50 million books donated so far.

Next time you go shopping, check out the Cheerios boxes and find a great story for you! You can also visit Spoonfuls of Stories to find out how you can donate to First Book to help more kids have access to books.

Disclosure: I was offered a box of Cheerios as a thank-you for writing this post.