It’s been a pleasure to work with Salina and Reach Out and Read-Alabama and provide books for the RX for Summer Reading Program. It’s been fun to hype it up in the office / social media with the Birthday Party Celebration we held with the AAB kids and participating in the Alabama Pediatrician Podcast by AL AAP.
Sarah Pelkey, Director of Sales and Marketing at All About Books
At All About Books, we are passionate advocates for early literacy and are dedicated to supporting literacy initiatives nationwide. One program close to our hearts is the RX for Summer Reading Program, hosted by our friends at Reach Out and Read-Alabama annually. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the program, and we are thrilled to join forces with them to commemorate this milestone and bolster their events. To highlight this wonderful partnership and the amazing work of Reach Out and Read-Alabama, we had the pleasure of speaking with Program and Communications Coordinator, Salina Sowell, to discuss their impactful initiatives.
Can you give us a brief history of Reach Out and Read Alabama?
In December 1996, Marsha Raulerson, MD, FAAP became the third pediatric practice in the country to implement the nationwide program, with six other practices joining the national program from 1997 through 2005. In 2006, she worked with the Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to establish Reach Out and Read-Alabama and six more practices joined that year. As the program has continued to expand throughout the state, 75 practices now include shared reading in their pediatric care, providing books, and coaching families to read together daily.
Our 300 clinicians have given over 1.8 million books books starting with six-month well-child visits, helping parents learn the importance of reading together and the impact of everyday moments.
What is the RX for Summer Reading Program?
Reach Out and Read-Alabama program sites host an annual summer campaign to encourage families to read together using a chosen book as inspiration. Practices and clinics statewide distribute copies of the book through fun events held in their offices throughout the summer months.
Discover the book selected for this year's program, Curious George and The Birthday Surprise, in a delightful read-along by Kym Middleton, MD, who serves as the Reach Out and Read-Alabama liaison to the Alabama Chapter-American Academy of Pediatrics Board.
Reach Out and Read Alabama has been successfully implementing this program for 15 years. Could you share with us the story behind how this program originally started?
The Rx for Summer Reading campaign began many years ago with the national ROR program, Summer of a Million Books. Our first campaign featured the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. That first year, 32 program sites participated in fun events and provided over 3,000 books to families across the state. The event was a success for the families we serve, and our program sites have continued the campaign each summer.
What are some of the standout events that pediatrician offices have organized as part of the RX for Summer Reading Program?
Our program sites are so creative with their ideas around each book. Barnyard Dance was a favorite campaign as practices hosted dance parties for their patients. ROR-AL celebrated ten years in 2016, and we chose How Do Dinosaurs Say Happy Birthday as our book that year. One of our practices had staff dress up as a T-rex for the event! Sites were very innovative in 2020 when we could not have in-person events and pivoted to online events quickly. Many hosted bedtime stories on their social media pages so the children who received a copy of the book at their visit could read with their doctor that night before bed. Our sites have gone all in this year with the birthday party theme. Many have designed T-shirts to wear during the day of their event, some have dressed up like monkeys, and most are hosting a party with cake or cupcakes, birthday party games, and more!
What is the process for selecting the book each year?
Books are chosen based on “finding the right book at the right time,” focusing on what is happening around us and helping families forge closer bonds while building the empathy and resilience children will rely on throughout their lives. For example, we chose Clifford and The Big Storm after our state had experienced numerous catastrophic weather events. Because our clinicians address the mental health needs of their patients, they can provide parents with tools to help their children cope during and after a disaster. Using a book with those themes and giving guidance on how to use the book in these discussions offered new opportunities to help families be prepared and address these issues.
In 2019, ALABAMA 200 and Reach Out and Read-Alabama partnered for the celebration of the State’s bicentennial and the 10th annual Rx for Summer Reading campaign with the book Alabama, My Home Sweet Home by Alabama author Charles Ghigna and illustrated by Alabama artist Michelle Hazelwood Hyde. Program sites across the state provided copies of the book and hosted fun Alabama-themed activities.
The 2021 Rx for Summer Reading campaign featured the book Leo Gets a Checkup, which captured all the details of a ROR-AL well-child visit. Well-child visits had decreased during 2020, and this book focused on the importance of those visits for children.
We would love to hear more about how you collaborated with All About Books this year to support the RX for Summer Reading Program.
We love partnering with All About Books and are very excited about our collaboration this year. Working with Sarah, we found the book we wanted to use, Curious George and The Birthday Surprise. We also collaborated to create promotional materials and social media posts for the campaign.
Hey there, I’m Brittany Winans
Brittany started in Spring 2022 and works on maintaining all our marketing, branding, publishing, and social media efforts with our Marketing Manager. If you follow us on social media, chances are you have already seen some of Brittany’s work!
