CLEVELAND — It’s a book so many of us know and love — "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day."
For 5-year-old Zion Crenshaw, today, this book is a much-needed escape.
“It’s the little things that make people happy,” said mom Shawanna Crenshaw.
Her six children and foster children are all patients at MetroHealth.
Today, she brought Zion in for his well-child visit and of course, the dreaded shots.
The books in the waiting room, the books handed to him by the doctor when he leaves — they matter.
“If they’re getting a shot, they’re sitting there reading a book, it relaxes my children,” Shawanna said. “So I’m glad the books are there.”
They’re here because of a national nonprofit called Reach Out and Read, founded back in 1989 by Dr. Robert Needlman, a physician at MetroHealth.
“He thought about, what if we put books in the waiting room, what would happen? And the books disappeared,” explained Lynn Foran, executive director of Reach Out and Read Greater Cleveland.
So from there, they started including them into well-child visits — research found that children’s language was more developed by the time they were three years old by three to six months.
More than 200 doctors and nurse practitioners across nearly 40 locations in greater Cleveland are trained in early literacy by Reach Out and Read.
There are books in the waiting room, exam rooms, and stacks and stacks of books, free to grab on your way out.
Pediatrician Dr. Anna Winfield has been a part for decades, saying the improvements she sees are remarkable.
“Ten years ago, I would give people a book and they would say, ‘That’s the only book I have at home’ and now you give them books and they say, ‘Oh I have plenty of books’ — but they still need more!” Winfield said.
We know reaching kids at an early age helps with kindergarten readiness, parental engagement, and is even beneficial for maternal well-being — research shows reading with your kids can decrease postpartum depression.
Book ‘prescriptions’ detailing specific reading material can even help parents feel more at ease.
“I think a lot of our parents who are at higher risk for low literacy get nervous about reading with their kids because they’re not confident in their own skills,” Winfield explained. “And if you show them what to do with the book and their kid, their eyes kind of light up.”
The key to Reach Out and Read’s success has been rolling the importance of literacy into well child visits, talking about it at the same level as safe sleep and good nutrition, and partnering with doctors who are trusted by families.
“They’re the messengers,” Foran said. “And parents, as you know being a mom of young children, you look to their advice and guidance to help you support the healthy development of your child.”
Currently, Reach Out and Read targets children six months to 5 years old — that includes 10 well-child visits and 10 chances to get books into the home and into regular routines.
They’re hoping to expand to starting at birth as soon as they can get more funding.
The nonprofit has handed out more than six million free books a year in all fifty states.
Here at News 5, we are passionate about literacy and reading. Our Give a Child a Book campaign is currently underway.
Just $5 can provide a book to a child to help them build their own at-home libraries, and the money donated in Northeast Ohio stays in Northeast Ohio.
You can learn more or donate by clicking here.
