[Via Publisher's Weekly]
Twenty years ago this month, Boston pediatricians Barry Zuckerman and Robert Needlman started handing out books at well-baby checkups. Since then Reach Out and Read, the nonprofit organization they founded to provide books for at-risk children between the ages of six months and five years, has given away more than 20 million books as part of its Rx for reading readiness. Working with publishing partners ranging from Scholastic to NBN to Charlesbridge, the Boston-based nonprofit has found a cost-effective solution to getting books into the hands of children at or near the poverty line —only $8 per child per year. Here, Dr. Sean Palfrey shares a book with a young patient at Boston Medical Center.