Read
to Me is based on a poem I wrote in 1997 for Pima County
Public Library's Project
L.I.F.T (Literacy Involves Families Together).
The simple yet powerful words in the poem encourage families to
read, sing, and tell stories to one another. Kyra Teis created the
illustrations that include babies, children, and adults of different
ethnicities and generations sharing literacy moments together.
Listen an introduction to the book on TeachingBooks.net.
The top and bottom photographs at the left were taken in November
2007 at a Project L.I.F.T. class at Marana High School, Marana,
Arizona. The middle photo was taken in April 2008 at a Project L.I.F.T.
event in Tucson.
The book is available in different language editions: English only, bilingual
Spanish/English, Haitian Creole/English, and Vietnamese/English.
The book has sold well over 200,000 copies. Most recently, the Friends of the Dallas Public Library and Parkland Health and Hospital System began partnering to give the book to every mother of a child born in 2016. They continued the project in 2017 and are keeping their project alive in 2018. Fort Worth Public Library and the JPS Health Network started a similar project in 2017 and are continuing in 2018. Another library-hospital collaboration is in the works. For more information, visit Books for Texas Babies.
The publisher, Star Bright Books, offers Read to Me and Vamos a leer posters to help organizations spread the word
about the importance of nurturing young children through literacy.
Read to Me/Vamos a
leer Photo Gallery
Star
Bright Books Web Site
Illustrator
Kyra Teis's Web Site
Author Judi Moreillon and Illustrator Kyra Teis
with Read to Me
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