Reading for Our Lives
The Urgency of Early Literacy and the Action Plan to Help Your Child
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Reading for Our Lives
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Narrated by:
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Maya Payne Smart
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By:
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Maya Payne Smart
About this listen
Completely revised and updated! 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
Today’s children face intense pressure to meet rising academic standards and prepare for future careers, but most fall dangerously short. Early struggles with language and literacy often snowball into lasting disadvantages. Millions of U.S. kids don’t learn to read well in elementary school, driving low adult literacy rates and threatening the nation’s economic productivity, public health, and social equity.
In Reading for Our Lives, journalist Maya Payne Smart shows that the literacy crisis starts at home. Too many parents expect schools to unlock their child’s reading potential, unaware that even the best classroom instruction (which most don’t get) can’t make up for weak early preparation or inconsistent support outside of school.
Smart breaks down the latest research to show parents how to do their part to build essential literacy skills. She busts the myth that bedtime stories are parents’ greatest contribution to kids’ reading development. She advocates instead for weaving a range of simple, fun, free literacy habits and activities into everyday family life—and shows you how to do it.
With optimism and evidence, Reading for Our Lives delivers a clear call to action and a path forward for families, schools, and communities to beat the literacy crisis together.
©2022, 2025 Maya Payne Smart (P)2025 Penguin AudioCritic reviews
"Reading For Our Lives is the book to turn to when nurturing critical readers. Like reading, Smart's book is for our children's lives. Don't miss out because our kids must not miss out on the life-giving power of reading."—Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist
"A must-read for any parent! This exceptional book walks you through not only the why of reading to your child, but the way. The scientifically-grounded, step-by-step insights outlined here can heighten both your and your child’s joy at learning one of life’s most important skills: reading."—Barbara Oakley, New York Times bestselling author of A Mind for Numbers
"I anticipate a revolution of reading readiness once parents get their hands on this book! In Reading for Our Lives, Maya Smart puts her faith in parents as the key participants in leading our youngest learners into literacy. No more tears over tedious workbooks or relentless drilling. Instead, Smart offers countless, actionable tips and practices to be used at home. Smart rightly claims that learning to read is of urgent, liberating importance for today's children. Preparing them at home so that they are equipped for school is a gift any parent can easily give their children, with Smart's book in hand. I'll be recommending Reading for Our Lives for years to come. It's the best book about learning to read I've ever read!"—Julie Bogart, creator and founder of Brave Writer, author of The Brave Learner and Raising Critical Thinkers