Books To Grow On

Connecting good health and good books!

A partnership project of:
Local Health Care Providers
Family Reading Partnership
Our Community

Participating Medical Practices:
Buttermilk Falls Pediatrics
Cayuga Family Medicine
Dr. Peter Clark of Groton
Drs. Stewart and O’Shea Family Medicine
Dryden Family Medicine
Family Medical Practice of Dryden
Family Medicine Associates of Ithaca
Guthrie Medical Group
Northeast Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
Trumansburg Family Health

Sponsors

6-month Book -- funded by Friends of Tompkins County Public Library	12-month Book -- funded by Ithaca Community Childcare Center (IC3)
18-month Book -- funded by Buttermilk Falls Pediatrics and Northeast Pediatrics	2-year Book -- funded by Park Foundation
3-year Book -- funded by CircleLink Fund	4-year Book -- funded by Triad Foundation

Objectives

• Encourage parents to make books and reading aloud a special part of everyday life for their children.
• Connect healthy child development with good books.
• Increase positive family and child interaction.
• Increase book ownership and early library use by all children and families.
• Create a common book experience for all children in our community, regardless of their socioeconomic or ethnic background.
• Help all children in our community enter school ready to learn.
• Support the health provider as a source for developmentally appropriate, health-promoting activities.

How Books to Grow On Grew

Books to Grow On grew in Ithaca with support from the Family Reading Partnership. It was inspired by a community outreach initiative (CATCH) of the American Academy of Pediatrics which seeks to encourage Health Care Providers to include literacy promotion in Well Child Care. Books to Grow On is our local contribution to the many new reading and medicine partnerships springing up in communities across the country.

How Books to Grow On Works

Physicians and nurse practitioners present the child and family with a new book as a gift from the medical practice. The book, along with advice for the families on the importance and pleasure of early reading experiences, will be incorporated into well visits. A total of six high-quality, age-appropriate, and culturally sensitive books will be given at visits from age six months through four years.

Why Are Early Experiences With Books So Important?

--The first years of life are critical for brain development.
--Of all the activities families do with their children, few will have as powerful an impact on development as time spent together with books and reading aloud!
--Taking a child on a lap and sharing a story:
    • forms a special bond
    • increases vocabulary
    • develops attention span
    • awakens imagination
    • develops a love for books
    • shows children the world
    • lays the foundation for reading and all of life's education

To find out more, visit these websites:

American Academy of Pediatrics

American Library Association/Born to Read

Reach Out and Read