Reading for Our Lives

An award-winning journalist and literacy advocate provides a clear, step-by-step guide to helping your child thrive as a reader and a learner.

When her child went off to school, Maya Smart was shocked to discover that a good education in America is a long shot, in ways that few parents fully appreciate. Our current approach to literacy offers too little, too late, and attempting to play catch-up when our kids get to kindergarten can no longer be our default strategy. We have to start at the top. The neural pathways that underpin strong reading are forged in infancy, which means literacy should begin at birth, too. This means better equipping parents to play their dual roles as first teachers and educational advocates.

Reading for Our Lives challenges the bath-book-bed status quo and the idea that reading aloud to our kids is enough to ensure school readiness. Each chapter is focused on key literacy skills and gives parents easy, immediate, and accessible ways to nurture them. Through personal stories, historical accounts, scholarly research, and practical tips, this book presents the life-and-death urgency of literacy, investigates inequity in reading achievement, and illuminates a path to a true, transformative education for all.

About the Author

Maya Payne Smart is a writer, parent educator, and literacy advocate who has served on the boards of numerous library and literacy organizations. She and her family live in Milwaukee, where she serves as affiliated faculty in educational policy and leadership in the College of Education at Marquette University. Her website, MayaSmart.com, provides tips and tools for parents to nurture, teach, and advocate for kids on the road to reading.

Author Residence: Milwaukee