Save the Children: Literacy

If the latest statistics are any indication, turning our children into avid readers is easier said than done. According to the results from the 2011 National Assessment of Education Progress, only about one-third of American fourth-graders are proficient in reading.



“Teaching our children to become skilled readers early on is key to ensuring their success in school and life,” said Judith Jerald, Early Childhood Advisor, Save the Children’s U.S. Programs. “This is especially true for the nearly one in four children living in poverty in America, because education is one of the most viable pathways out of poverty.”

And yet, more than 60 percent of low-income families can’t afford to have books in their homes.

That’s why Save the Children, through our early childhood education and school-based programs, strives to help disadvantaged children right here in the United States develop and grow as readers from birth all the way through sixth grade. The results speak for themselves! Last year, the number of our program participants reading at or above grade level nearly doubled by the end of the school year.

This National Read Across America Day, let’s make reading a priority for our children. Whether your little one is a beginning reader or a reluctant one, these lists of expert-recommended fun and educational reads will help your child uncover the bookworm within.

Get your toddlers off to an early reading start with these picks:
Mine! A Backpack Baby Story by Miriam Cohen
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback
I Went Walking by Sue Williams

Ensure your preschoolers get their daily dose of reading with these book selections:
Best Friends by Charlotte Labaronne
How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
Mine! Mine! Mine! By Shelly Becker

Keep your grade-schooler’s reading skills on track with these fun reads:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

Visit the Save the Children blog and click "love to read" for more suggestions.

About Save the Children
Save the Children works to break the cycle of poverty and improve the lives of children by ensuring they have the resources they need—access to a quality education, healthy foods and opportunities to grow and develop in a nurturing environment. When disasters like hurricanes and wildfires strike, Save the Children is among the first on the ground ensuring the needs of children are being met.

Save the Children’s early childhood education, literacy, physical activity and nutrition, and emergency response programs reached more than 147,000 children and families in the United States last year alone.