Max Rhymes, the FREE children’s book series and nonprofit foundation, is actively looking to expand the schools they operate in across the country. Todd Courtney is co-author of the Max Rhymes series and co-founder of the Max Rhymes Foundation. All it takes is one school raising its hand. When a school identifies the need, the Max Rhymes Foundation activates its network to secure funding for books and classroom supplies — whether for a single K–2 classroom or an entire district.
The Max Rhymes Foundation currently has funding to adopt additional schools…especially under-resourced schools in large metro areas, allowing entire communities to be reached at once. Teachers can sign up directly at www.MaxRhymesEducators.org to access and download resources immediately. More information is available at www.MaxRhymesFoundation.org.
Todd presents a scientific, data-informed perspective shaped by real classroom results. Through a free school-adoption model, the Max Rhymes Foundation provides every kindergarten through second-grade student with a five-book set to keep, along with comprehensive teacher materials for schools and districts, while extending the same resources to families to create a unified home–school learning ecosystem. Everything is provided 100% free, with no red tape or strings attached.
How do we know the Max Rhymes program works? Independent data from North Carolina’s Pathway to One program shows clear, measurable gains in phonemic awareness, attention, peer interaction, and social-emotional development in just four to five weeks, demonstrating that early literacy and SEL do not have to compete, and that thoughtful, preventative programs can support learning without increasing pressure on teachers.
I had a chance to interview Todd to learn more.
How does the Max Rhymes program work and how do we get it into as school?
We adopt elementary schools and provide every kindergarten, first-, and second-grade student with a five-book Max Rhymes set to take home and keep. Each classroom also receives multiple book sets, a large-format teacher “Big Book” for shared reading, and access to an educational website created “by teachers, for teachers.” That platform includes structured lesson supports and more than 600 pages of companion activity materials for students.
We provide all of this at no cost to schools.
Each year, we return to the same schools, adopting only the incoming kindergarten class. Over time, this creates a cohesive, school-wide learning ecosystem in which every student shares the same foundational, extracurricular literacy experience.
Most schools nationwide are required to teach Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). Although Max Rhymes was not originally designed with SEL in mind, the series aligns naturally and powerfully with SEL goals supporting emotional awareness, empathy, resilience, and social development. While we consider Max Rhymes an extracurricular program, it fits seamlessly into existing curricular frameworks.
Because navigating formal adoption processes across thousands of districts and states involves extensive red tape, we deliver the program entirely free, enabling teachers to use it immediately and without barriers.
There is no other program like this to our knowledge in scope, scale, or accessibility. Equally important is the home–school connection, a truly first-of-its-kind element. Parents receive access to the same tools and resources provided to teachers, allowing learning to continue at home in a consistent and meaningful way. This alignment benefits students, empowers parents, supports teachers, and strengthens the classroom as a whole.
This is how broad, lasting change happens through shared tools, shared language, and shared experience across school and home.
What makes the Max Rhymes books so effective for kids?
I break it down into three parts.
First: the message.
Each book centers on one positive core value such as responsibility, manners, or gratitude. Not a single rhyme here and there, but an entire book built around one clear theme. One value, reinforced consistently from beginning to end.
Second: the language.
That message is written in the present tense, much like an affirmation. In fact, many of the rhymes begin with “I am” arguably the two most powerful words in the English language. As children read, the message becomes a statement of fact about who they are right now, not who they might become someday.
For example:
“I am the one who is responsible for me.
When I look in the mirror, it’s easy to see.”
There’s no ambiguity. The rhyme makes it clear that the child is responsible for themselves, period. You will never find phrases like I wish, I want, or someday in our books. There is no future projection. Everything is grounded in the present moment.
Third: memorization through rhyme.
Each message is intentionally embedded in rhyme, making it easy to remember, repeat, and internalize.
When you combine a single core value, present-tense affirmational language, and rhythmic memorization, you get something truly different. To our knowledge, no other children’s series is written this way. That uniqueness matters but more importantly, it works, and that’s what matters most.
Can you share a little bit about the Max Rhymes Roku channel?
This really excites me because the videos genuinely work. They’re interactive electronic books, a blend of cartoon and ebook where characters move and speak, guided by an exceptional narrator who brings each character to life and directly engages the child by asking questions. Kids truly feel she’s talking to them. I see it firsthand with my grandson, and it mirrors what we hear from parents and teachers every day. Unlike fast-paced cartoons designed to overstimulate, Max Rhymes videos use subtle 528 Hz background music to calm the brain and support focus, making them ideal for quiet moments like nap transitions, mealtime, or downtime. This was intentional, informed by decades of research, so children learn while staying calm. Parents can watch at home, teachers can use them in class, and while the videos are also on YouTube, we prefer Roku no ads, no autoplay into unrelated content, and a safe, values-aligned environment that continuously plays only Max Rhymes videos.
What is the next step in the Max Rhymes story?
We currently have funding to adopt more schools especially under-resourced schools in large metro areas allowing us to reach more children within the same communities. When students across neighboring schools are all exposed to Max Rhymes, it creates real, broad change. If you know a kindergarten, first-, or second-grade teacheror have a child in those grades please reach out. Teachers can sign up directly at www.MaxRhymesEducators.org to access and download all resources at any time. More information is available at www.MaxRhymesFoundation.org, or you can contact me at todd@maxrhymes.com. Everything we offer is 100% free, with no strings attached. Our goal is simple: help as many students as possible.
You say you want to help create the next great generation, which sounds more like a movement. Tell us more about that.
When you look at society as a whole, the data shows people are less happy and less optimistic than previous generations. The idea of a “Great Generation” isn’t destiny, it’s the result of shared values, literacy, and a strong sense of self. Our belief is simple: if millions of newborns, toddlers, and early learners grow up hearing and reading positive, value-based rhymes, we can help shape another great generation. It comes down to literacy, social and emotional development, core values, and self-worth, all of which the Max Rhymes Series and our school adoption program address. By saturating entire schools year after year, change compounds: teaching becomes joyful again, students take responsibility, and norms begin to realign. It’s an ambitious goal, but not a complicated one. After 20 years of research and development, we’re ready to scale, and at just six cents per student per day, it’s remarkably sustainable.
You’ve said the self-help industry has been focusing on the wrong generation. What do you mean by that?
We say that a bit tongue-in-cheek, but there’s real truth behind it. The data shows that only about one in ten adults ever meaningfully change their core behavioral patterns. We spend enormous resources on adult interventions, rehab, job training, housing, financial aid but the long-term return is often poor because lasting change is extremely difficult. I know this firsthand; I’m in that ten percent, and it took years of effort, money, and commitment. This isn’t about giving up on adults but if we redirected more focus, energy, and resources toward children, we could interrupt harmful patterns before they take hold and potentially change outcomes within a single generation.
How do your books help achieve the goal of creating lifelong learners?
Max Rhymes is designed to build an open-ended belief system early in life, one where children see themselves as capable, curious, and full of potential. When kids believe “I can” instead of “I can’t,” they naturally seek out new knowledge and experiences that interest them. Rather than narrowing who children think they’re supposed to become, the books reinforce self-worth, confidence, and curiosity at the stage when beliefs are being formed. Too often, creativity is unintentionally shut down by well-meaning adults who steer children toward predetermined paths. When children are allowed to trust their inner guidance and explore what excites them, learning stops being something they’re forced to do and becomes something they want to do and that’s the foundation of lifelong learning.
When you encourage parents to read Max Rhymes to their children, are you saying they should stop reading classic nursery rhymes like Jack and Jill or Humpty Dumpty?
Not at all. A healthy library includes a wide variety of books, and classic nursery rhymes certainly have their place. They’re catchy, they rhyme, and they help with early phonics and memory. What they don’t do is intentionally support a child’s belief system. Max Rhymes offers the same benefits of rhyme and repetition but with positive, present-tense messages designed to shape healthy beliefs at the age when behavioral patterns are being formed. Our approach isn’t about replacing traditional stories; it’s about adding purposeful content during the most influential years, especially from birth through age seven. When Max Rhymes is read early and often alongside other books, children begin to internalize positive behaviors and values and parents consistently tell us how quickly their kids start modeling Max, Molly, and the other characters. It’s exactly what most parents hope for.
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