Don’t let visions of the “perfect” read-aloud get in the way of the joys of actual read-alouds.
That thought echoed in my mind during a Reading for Our Lives virtual book club with the staff and volunteers from Women’s Storybook Project in Austin, Texas. This remarkable organization records incarcerated moms reading books aloud, then delivers the books and recordings to their children. Hearing their mothers’ voices creates a vital thread of connection—a bridge across the physical and emotional distance of incarceration.
During the gathering, I was deeply moved by how many hands, hearts, and minds collaborate to make this mission possible. So much effort, fundraising, organization, and leadership is required to deliver a semblance of the read-aloud experience that many parents take for granted.
I was honored to share my raise-a-reader journey with the team’s staff and volunteers and answer their questions about Reading for Our Lives. The goal: To share practical tips, research insights, and solutions to common read-aloud challenges, empowering them to better support the moms they record and the caregivers who share the books and recordings with the kids. Through their efforts, caregivers create reading rituals that offer comfort and consistency by delivering their moms’ voices to children whose mothers can’t be with them physically. At the same time they foster back-and-forth conversation as they share the stories.
Sadly, the deep love and effort I witnessed at Women’s Storybook Project stands in stark contrast to broader trends. New research from HarperCollins UK reported that today’s parents are falling out of love with reading aloud. Just 41% of kids under 4 years old are read to regularly, down from 64% in 2012. And only 40% of parents say reading aloud is fun for them—let alone for the kids. That’s a serious problem, because research shows that frequent parent read-alouds impact how much kids read on their own later, as well as how well the kids learn to read and how much they enjoy it.
And yet, even as many families pull back from reading aloud, others are doing everything they can to hold on to it. When you see the lengths some parents go to connect through books while behind bars, it puts things in perspective. The care. The effort. The vulnerability. Suddenly, the typical excuses for skipping story time lose steam. Our parental fatigue (though real) feels lighter, busy schedules seem less daunting, and waiting for the perfect moment feels a little indulgent in this context. Moms in the Women’s Storybook Project read to counteract some of the emotional insecurity, stigma, social isolation, and other devastating effects of family separation.
In the book club, we explored everything from how to engage middle schoolers who’ve lost interest in books to reading with babies and multilingual learners. The questions reflected the real-life complexity—and beauty—of supporting literacy in all kinds of families. Addressing these questions reminded me vividly that we truly need one another. We rely on a community of support to cultivate the literacy and language skills that all our children need to thrive.
Too often, parenting media paints an idyllic picture of family literacy—cozy bedtime stories, peaceful children on laps, fireplaces crackling in the background. But that image simply isn’t the reality for many families, for many reasons. I’m a sleepyhead who gladly delegated bedtime stories to my husband, choosing other moments in the day to share books with our daughter. If I’m honest, I spent more time thinking about writing about raising readers than actually reading with my daughter when she was little. Good intentions, faulty follow-through. Too often, I waited for the “perfect” book or “right” moment, missing the ample opportunities already within reach.
My book club conversation with the Women’s Storybook Project reinforced for me the importance of embracing the imperfect, yet deeply meaningful work of nurturing literacy.
Let the organization’s stories remind you: the perfect moment may never come, but with intent you can make the time to read anyway. It’s not too late, too little, or too hard. Anytime you can share builds your child’s brain and your family bond.
