Day 2: Mitzvah — Reach Out and Read

I woke up feeling a little concerned about what my kind deed would be for today. I had nothing interesting planned and was worried I would have to ‘seek out’ an opportunity. Then, I went to the Barne’s and Noble (in Chestnut Hill) to do a little work. As I walked in, I saw a large cardboard ‘kiosk’ advertising a Holiday Book Drive. PERFECT!

Upon closer inspection, I found that the book drive is benefiting a program called “Reach Out and Read“. Reach Out and Read is…

…an evidence-based nonprofit organization that promotes early literacy and school readiness in pediatric exam rooms nationwide by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud.

ROR builds on the unique relationship between parents and medical providers to develop critical early reading skills in children, beginning at 6 months of age. The 3.8 million families served annually by ROR read together more often, and their children enter kindergarten with larger vocabularies, with stronger language skills, and better prepared to succeed.

How it works is simple. You select a card from the kiosk that indicates the gender and age of the child you should buy for:

I lucked out and got a 5-yo boy… what could be more perfect… I have a 5-yo boy! This is the book I picked:

You sign a card with your name and then the Barne’s and Noble forwards the donations onto the program. What a great program…

It’s not a ‘perfect’ storybook…but if there is one thing I know about 5-yo boys, it’s that the LOVE dinosaurs! This book is geared for the 6 to 8 age set… so I thought it would grow with him. His parents can read the excerpts to begin with and he can look at the pictures, and as he gets older, he can begin to learn about the specific details of each dinosaur.

I hope he likes it. I feel good about buying it. 🙂

If you would like to help, but don’t have access to a Barne’s and Noble… you can still contribute to Reach Out and Read.