Grassley Promotes Early Reading Programs through "Prescribe a Book Act"

Press Release

Senator Chuck Grassley is leading an effort to help children develop the early literacy skills needed before entering school. Grassley, along with Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, is introducing legislation to authorize a competitive grant program to support research-based pediatric early literacy programs.

"Research shows that reading aloud to children from an early age is vitally important to their development. Programs such as Reach Out and Read have had a tremendous impact on kids who are in danger of falling behind, even before they reach school age," Grassley said. "We're helping health care providers give parents a new type of prescription when they leave the doctor's office-a prescription to read aloud with their kids."

Grassley has long been a supporter of public-private partnerships that support efforts to prepare young children to be fully equipped to enter school. He has worked in the Senate to gain funding for the Reach Out and Read program, a national, non-profit organization that provides books to children at pediatric check-ups from six months to five years of age, with a special emphasis on at-risk children.

"Organizations like Reach Out and Read, and others that may receive funding through a new grant program, may be the difference in a child entering school at an equal level as his classmates or starting behind from the beginning," Grassley said.

For example, Reach Out and Read has trained tens of thousands of doctors and nurses nationwide to advise parents about the importance of reading aloud to children. The program is located at more than 4,100 sites and reaches 3.5 million children each year with positive results. Children served by the Reach Out and Read Program show an increase of four to eight points on vocabulary tests.

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