Even when military families are apart, shared reading can keep them connected.
In honor of Military Appreciation Month, Reach Out and Read is celebrating a growing national partnership with United Through Reading, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening connections within military families through the power of shared reading.
Our shared work is expanding access to books and literacy support for children in military families across the country. United Through Reading’s signature program enables service members to record themselves reading aloud to their children, creating meaningful moments even during deployments or long separations. Paired with Reach Out and Read’s evidence-based model, which integrates books and guidance into pediatric care from birth, the programs help families build routines that foster early literacy, emotional resilience, and strong parent-child bonds.
What began as a local collaboration has now grown into a national effort reaching military installations across multiple states. United Through Reading provides thousands of books to Reach Out and Read military clinics, ensuring that families have both the tools and encouragement to read together every day. Clinicians use these books to not only support early development, but also to model shared reading practices that families can carry with them, no matter where military life takes them.
A clinician at a Reach Out and Read site in Tacoma, Wash., said that they enjoy letting the families know that the books are theirs to keep. “Parents are surprised and show appreciation and excitement about sharing the gift of reading.”
For military children, who often experience frequent moves and disruptions, consistent reading routines can provide stability, comfort, and continuity. By working together, Reach Out and Read and United Through Reading are helping to ensure that every child has the opportunity to grow, learn, and stay connected through the simple, powerful act of reading together.