Five Top Takeaways: How Children’s Literature Is Getting More Diverse, and Why That Matters

02.17.2022 Stories of Impact

Raising a Reader, Too Small to Fail, and the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) held a virtual event, “Writing a New Chapter: Advancing Diversity in Children’s Books.” If you joined us, we hope you enjoyed it and were inspired by hearing from our wonderful panelists about the state of diversity in children’s books today, why diverse representation is critical for identity development, as well as innovative efforts to advance this issue. Our friend Mark Swartz with Early Learning Nation wrote a great piece highlighting his five takeaways—check it out!

https://earlylearningnation.com/2022/02/five-top-takeaways-how-childrens-literature-is-getting-more-diverse-and-why-that-matters/

05.08.2026 From the CEO

Three Years, Real Growth: Lessons from Our 2023–2025 Strategic Plan

By Michelle Torgerson, President and CEO, Raising a Reader Over the past three years, we asked a bold question: What does it take to build a sustainable, data-driven, equity-centered national organization—while expanding impact for children and families? In 2023, we launched our first strategic plan as a fully independent nonprofit. As we closed that chapter and reflect, I’m proud of what we built, and ...

04.14.2026 Featured

Beyond the Classroom: Why the Raising a Reader Classic Red Book Bag Program is the Missing Piece in Your Science of Reading Strategy

Districts across the country are making significant investments in the Science of Reading. From adopting high-quality Tier 1 curricula to intensive teacher training in phonics and phonemic awareness, the focus on the “word recognition” side of the literacy equation has never been stronger. But as every educator knows, decoding is only half the battle. According to the Simple View of Reading, literacy is ...