Reach Out and Read Celebrates 35th Anniversary with 35 for 35

Reach Out and Read Celebrates 35th Anniversary with 35 for 35

You may notice new books in the waiting area next time you go to the pediatrician for a check up. 

In honor of their 35th anniversary, Reach Out and Read, national nonprofit promoting childhood literacy and healthy family relationships, announced the launch of 35 for 35 in collaboration with decades-long partner Scholastic. 

Reach Out and Read and Scholastic curated a collection of 35 books; 10,000 copies of the 35 books (350,000 books in total) will be printed and shipped to medical clinics nationwide. 

The collection features a wide variety of voices, from new authors to best-selling authors and literary award winners, and selections celebrate the vibrant communities, inclusive families and diverse cultures of millions of children around the world. 

Here is the full list of books featured in the 35 for 35 collection: 

• Cat’s First Baby by Natalie Nelson

• Dog’s First Baby by Natalie Nelson

• Hello, Beautiful You! by Andrea Davis Pinkney

• I Love Your Face! by Karma Wilson

• Awake, Asleep by Kyle Lukoff

• Bus Stop by Angela H. Dale

• Dream Big by Joyce Wan

• Sometimes I Kaploom by Rachel Vail

• The Rice in the Pot Goes Round and Round by Wendy Wan-Long Shang

• This Is Our House by Hyewon Yum

• We All Play by Julie Flett

• You Matter by Christian Robinson

• Bathe the Cat by Alice B. McGinty

• Carina Felina by Carmen Agra Deedy

• Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

• Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle

• My Moms Love Me by Anna Membrino

• Our Favorite Day by Joowon Oh

• We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom

• A Library by Nikki Giovanni

• Between Words, a Friendship Tale by Saki Tanaka

• Elephant in the Dark by Mina Javaherbin

• Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho

• Forever Home by Henry Cole 

• I Promise by Lebron James

• Julian at the Wedding by Jessica Love

• Nell Plants a Tree by Anne Wynter

• One Family by George Shannon

• Our Pool by Lucy Ruth Cummins

• Skater Cielo by Rachel Katstaller

• The Paperboy by Dav Pilkey

• We Are Here by Tami Charles

• When Rubin Plays by Gracey Zhang

• Why Am I Me? by Paige Britt

• Windows by Julia Denos

Marty Martinez, CEO of Reach Out and Read, says that their goal is to “build lifelong bonds” between children and their parents “over shared reading.” 

“We collaborated with Scholastic on this collection because of their reach and ability to work with publishing partners to include as many titles, authors and illustrators as possible,” Martinez said in a press release. “Through our network of clinicians, we will now put those meaningful, joyous books in the hands of families who might not otherwise have them.” 

Healthcare clinics in the Greater New York area will be among the first in the nation to receive books from the 35 for 35 collection. The full list of 232 clinics served by Reach Out and Read can be found on Reach Out and Read’s website, and includes clinics in all five boroughs, across Long Island and in the Westchester area. 

Using the Reach Out and Read model, medical providers will share the books with families with young children at no cost during well-child visits, alongside evidence-based guidance about literacy and nurturing relationships through shared reading. 

The benefits of the program are evident: research shows that Reach Out and Read families read together more often, and their children enter kindergarten more prepared to succeed, and shared reading has proven benefits later on in life. 

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