Why Literacy??
Over 43 million adults have insufficient literacy skills and over 8 million of those adults are considered “functionally illiterate”. Reading skills are a foundation of educational achievement and eventually career opportunities. Improving literacy rates can in fact result in a stronger economy, a lower incarceration rate, and better prospects to escape the clutches of poverty.
Over 60% of low-income families have no books for children in their homes. The more books that a family has at home for their children, allow for higher test scores. It gives them the access to explore and learn new words throughout their lives. If children cannot read well by the end of 1st grade, there is a 90% chance that they will remain poor reading skills by the end of 4th grade.
Literacy Struggle
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, students were forced to attend school virtually and many schools saw struggle. All skills were impacted and those kids who didn’t have books found themselves at a bigger disadvantage.
Backing on Literacy
Check out this video from Pro Literacy about why literacy matters!
We Can Help!
My Book Pal provides low-income children books that they get to keep three times throughout the year.
In September kids coming back to school will receive their stuffed animal, 3 books, and a reading workbook. Come December, 4 more books go out to the kids, along with a coloring book and crayons. Finally before school gets out in May, all kids will get 5 books and a journal to continue their stories.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do you get the books?
We buy the books from Scholastic. They are the company that hosts the Book Fairs that come to schools all over the US. We have an account with them so that we can get books that are tailor made for specific reading levels.
Does reading to a stuffed animal actually help kids read?
Yes it does!! A study in 2017 in Japan discovered that preschool children showed interest and would actually read to their stuffed animals after a stuffed animal “sleepover”. While this study was done on a small scale, it demonstrated a positive effect upon reading!
Are the stuffed animals donated?
No they are not. We found another care program that is dedicated to assisting in helping different communities and organizations. Kohl’s Cares Program is where we get our stuffed animals in bulk amounts. As we spend money to buy the stuffed animals, the money we spend goes to help others too!
How do you pick the schools to partner with?
Each school we partner with is considered to be a low-income community school. We focus on assisting Title 1 Colorado schools. The Colorado Department of Education lists off Title 1 schools on public records so have started there. From that list, we find some in specific areas that we could deliver to, and look into the school based on their website and the community needs.
What other materials and things do you include for this?
In addition to the stuffed animals and specific leveled books, we also invest in coloring books, boxes of crayons, grade level workbooks, and of course bags to carry it all!
What can I donate?
Anyone can donate!! Many people do money donations, but we have collected boxes of colored crayons and children’s coloring books as a part of our donation process. Being that we get very specific books tailor made for grade levels, that is one thing we don’t accept.
My Book Pal Inc. 