Reach Out and Read

In the fifth and final episode in our multi-part series on poverty and early relational health we look inside our organization and examine the work Reach Out and Read is doing to help families experiencing material hardship. Ruth Coleman, Alex Chu, and Callee Boulware outline how we can use our long-standing experience and in-depth research to focus on under-resourced communities and support meaningful approaches to poverty and healthy early relationships.

Positive, supportive interactions with children may help mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences resulting from poverty. Continuing our spotlight series on poverty and early relational health, Dr. Kate Rosenblum, co-Director of Zero to Thrive at the University of Michigan, joins us to talk about how aligning programs like ours can "promote the health and resilience of families from conception to early childhood through research, training and community partnership."

How can families help prepare their children for school when they’re working multiple jobs, or struggling to buy groceries? Reading a book together can seem like a lot when all your energy is focused on meeting the basic needs of your family.  Evidence-based home visiting programs like Parents as Teachers can help with some of these challenges. Jennifer Bronsdon and Emily Callahan of Parents as Teachers at MGH Revere join us to talk about what home visiting is, what it isn't, and how these programs meet families in their reality - at their homes.

There's a significant amount of data on childhood poverty, but the numbers only tell one part of the story. Cristi Carman and Dr. Philip Fisher of Stanford University join us to talk about how to decipher complex data to better understand the experiences, challenges, and resiliency of young children and their families experiencing material hardship.

AAP policy statements are powerful, well-researched, and meticulously-reviewed principles on the state-of-the-art in children's health.  Yesterday, the AAP released their latest Policy Statement: “Literacy Promotion: An Essential Component of Primary Care Pediatric Practice”, and an accompanying extensive Technical Report outlining the substantial supporting research evidence. Drs. Perri Klass and Pamela High, two of the lead authors of the AAP’s statement and report, join us to explain their work, and the recommendations for pediatricians, policy makers, and families.

How can we talk about poverty and early relational health so people will listen? How can you get people to care about public issues that seem insurmountable (but aren't)? Nicholas Kristof, op-ed columnist for The New York Times, joins us to talk about strategies for how to talk about difficult subjects so people will listen (hint: it starts with a story.)

Celebrating their 25th anniversary, Reach Out and Read Greater New York provides books and training to over 230 Reach Out and Read programs in predominantly low-income communities in New York City, Long Island, and the Greater Hudson Valley. Executive Director Emily Marchese joins us to talk about the joys — and challenges — of serving one of the largest, and most diverse affiliates in the country.

Over the decades, more and more US children are being raised by their grandparents.  Dr. LaShawnDa Pittman, author of the new book, “Grandmothering While Black: A Twenty-First-Century Story of Love, Coercion, and Survival”, joins us to talk about how the interweaving of love, obligation, bureaucracy, historical factors, race, gender, and economic inequality particularly shape Black Grandmothers' role in the family—and how the subsequent effects are passed on to their children.

Writing for children—especially books that can be emotionally challenging—requires a great deal of insight, honestly, talent, and self reflection; and that's before you even pick up the pencil! Peter Brown, author of The Wild Robot, a beautifully crafted and deeply moving middle grade novel about technology, nature, and family, joins us to talk about his approach to this work.

Season 5 of our podcast kicks off with highlights from expert voices in early relational health, pediatrics, and publishing, captured live at the Reach Out and Read Leadership Conference in New York City in May 2024.