Reach Out and Read

This data coupled with the enjoyment by children and parents led to dissemination which accelerated following the first major grant from the Casey Foundation facilitated by Betty King.

Reach Out and Read strives to improve emergent literacy and social-emotional health during the span of rapid brain growth and development between birth and age five, particularly in economically disadvantaged families who are at risk for adverse outcomes.

Reach Out and Read's unique model of integrating literacy into routine pediatric care is designed to meet families where they are; while less than one-third of children in the United States are enrolled in a childcare setting, more than 90% receive a well-child check-up every year.

No other early literacy organization has both the scale to reach millions of children nationwide and the solid evidence base to support program effectiveness.

[vi] Reach Out and Read is a recipient of New York Times columnist and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Nick Kristof's 2019 Holiday Impact Prize.

Krisof and WuDunn cite Reach Out and Read as, "an excellent example of a cost-effective, evidence-based program that helps kids in a crucial window of development."

Other awards include the 2013 American Hospital Association Award of Honor "to recognize an exemplary contribution to the health and well-being of the people through leadership on a major health policy or social initiative," the 2013 David M. Rubenstein Prize from the Library of Congress for its "groundbreaking advancement of literacy,"[2] and the 2014 Carle Angel Honor for its "tireless promotion of early literacy and school readiness.