For parents looking to ensure that their children don’t start the school year behind the rest of the class, heading to the pediatrician may not be the obvious solution that comes to mind. But Reach Out and Read hopes to change that.

Reach Out and Read prepares America's youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together. What sets Reach Out and Read apart is the messenger: Doctors, nurse practitioners, and other medical professionals incorporate Reach Out and Read's evidence-based model into regular pediatric checkups, by advising parents about the importance of reading aloud and giving developmentally-appropriate books to children. The research shows that the model works: children served by Reach Out and Read arrive at school with larger vocabularies, stronger language skills, and a six-month developmental edge.

Together with United We Serve Let's Read. Let's Move., Reach Out and Read launched the Summer of a Million Books, a bold, new campaign to put one million brand-new books in the hands of American children before Labor Day. That means that every day between Father's Day and Labor Day, Reach Out and Read's participating pediatricians will need to distribute more than 18,500 books to the children they serve. Five weeks into the initiative, Reach Out and Read has already passed the half-way mark, giving more than 500,000 books to children across the country.

At every one of the 4,500 locations across the U.S., Reach Out and Read doctors and nurses are helping families realize the importance of reading together to help children develop the skills and tools they need to excel in school.

How can you support the Summer of a Million Books Campaign?

1. Donate a book or sponsor a child online through Reach Out and Read's Virtual Book Drive.
2. Organize a book drive for the Reach Out and Read Program in your community.
3. Most importantly, read to the children in your life every day.