Did you know that in the United States, there are many children who live in neighborhoods that constitute as “book deserts?” These are places where families have little to no access to printed materials.
Research shows that access to books early in a child’s development has positive short-term and long-term effects on vocabulary expansion and overall literacy skills. Unfortunately, the reality is that American cities and towns are segregated not only by race and ethnicity but by economic circumstances too. And this rise of income segregation over the last decade has caused deep disparities in resource allocation among students.
At DylPop’s Book Shop we believe that every child deserves access to a collection of culturally diverse books. That’s why we have partnered with 50 States 50 Books, LLC. Together, we hope to get closer to their goal of closing the literacy gap in America by exposing more children to diverse and inclusive literature.
50 States 50 Books was founded in 2018 by a brother-sister duo. At the time, the pair of siblings were only 4 and 5 years-old (how cool?!). What started as a passion project for the Gordon family has turned into a non-profit organization that has served thousands of children across the United States with free diverse books.
Like the incredible team behind 50 States 50 Books, we believe it’s crucial to invest in early literacy education. This not only will benefit the individual child and his/her/their family, but ultimately will help make our nation more prosperous.
In our home my four-year old and I have used reading as a way to round out our nighttime routine. We select a small stack of books before bed and I spend this time reading allowed to her, watching her absorb the various messages and illustrations. Charnaie (the brilliant mama behind 50 States 50 Books) has also allocated reading routines in her household. She aims to read aloud to her children for a minimum of 30 minutes per day, and likes story-time to feel as organic as possible.
Often times, the stories we have chosen to read to our own children jump-start topical conversation around our tables. These chats are something we will always cherish, and I believe will be the foundation for our children’s learning and development.
For more information about 50 States 50 Books, LLC. please visit their website at https://www.50states50books.net/ or check them out on Instagram @50States50Books.
And remember, for every book bundle purchased at DylPop’s Book Shop, we will donate $5 to this fabulous organization!! At the time of writing this blog post, our customers have helped 50 States 50 Books donate literary materials to families in 20 different States!