Making Books Part of a Healthy Childhood
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Newsletter: Reach Out and Read Kansas City

Join Reach Out and Read Kansas City and your site will benefit from the following services:

  • Provider training
  • Book donations
  • Volunteer recruitment network
  • Communication and information sharing network
  • Book funding for eligible sites

To become a Reach Out and Read® site:

  1. Request an application from the ROR National Center at reachoutandread.org, or call (617) 629-8042. Contact the ROR-KC office at (913) 588-2793 for assistance with completing your application prior to submission.
  2. When your application is complete, mail the original to the National ROR Center, and a copy to: Reach Out and Read Kansas City, 3901 Rainbow, Mail Stop 4004, Kansas City, KS 66160 - OR fax your application to (913) 588-8397.


Hear What Our Doctors Say

"The Reach Out and Read Program has already had a significant impact on our patients. Almost every day I walk by an exam room or walk in to see a patient and find a mother reading to her child or the child reading for the mother or an older sibling. This never happened prior to the inception of the program. Such a dramatic impact in such a short time is remarkable and far more than I anticipated. It has made a believer out of me."

~ Dr. K.W.

"I actually made time to sit on the floor with a 4 year-old patient who crawled up in my lap, and we read Where the Wild Things Are together. He turned the pages, we pointed out the monsters and just had a great time. I can't tell you how nice it was for me to have that little interaction with him. His mother's face was glowing! I made a new special friend that day, thanks to Reach Out and Read Kansas City."

~Dr. K.M.

"One mother reported that she is spending more time with her kids by reading to them, and that it makes her feel closer to them. She also said that she is learning English, along with her children, by using the bilingual books we give out.”

~ KU Overland Park Pediatrician

"Children’s faces light up when they see the books. Siblings are disappointed when they don’t receive books. Children ask for books at urgent care visits, also."

~ KU Children’s Center Pediatrician

"One family was told they were free to leave and the mother said, 'My children won’t let me leave until I finish the book we are reading.'"

~ CMH Pediatrician at PCC

Program Components:

  • Doctors and nurse practitioners are trained to give advice to parents about appropriate books and reading activities that support their child's healthy development.
  • Children get to take home a free, new, developmentally appropriate book at every check-up from birth to five years.
  • Trained volunteers read aloud to children in waiting rooms, modeling for parents how to share books and tell stories, and engage families in waiting room activities surrounding books and reading.