R.E.A.D. Reading Education Assistance Dogs – Our 2023 Charity Partner!

R.E.A.D. Reading Education Assistance Dogs – Our 2023 Charity Partner!

One of the best things about the children’s writing community is the willingness to give. To give to each other in the form of support and education, and many times to give to charitable causes that are close to their hearts. That’s why picking a charity partner each year is so important to the PBSummit Team.

Over the last eight years we’ve donated over $42,000 to:

  • We Need Diverse Books
  • Two Title I Schools in Oregon and Connecticut
  • Reading Partners
  • San Juan Public Library in Puerto Rico (2-time recipient!)
  • Project Night Night
  • Binc – The Book Industry Charitable Foundation
  • Little Free Library’s Read in Color Program

You can find out more details about our previous charity partners on our Charity Partner page here.

Dog-gone it! We are beyond excited to announce our 2023 Picture Book Summit Charity Partner: R.E.A.D. – Reading Education Assistance Dogs!

 

Here’s a little bit about R.E.A.D. – Reading Education Assistance Dogs:

Intermountain Therapy Animals (ITA), is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1993, whose mission is to enhance quality of life through the power of the human-animal bond.

ITA launched Reading Education Assistance Dogs® (the R.E.A.D.® Program) in 1999. R.E.A.D. is the first literacy support program to utilize the known benefits of interaction with animals to inspire a love of reading and books—through the presence of a warm, trustworthy, non-judgmental listening companion. Thousands of children in schools and libraries worldwide have been benefitting ever since. R.E.A.D. has licensed more than 7,000 practitioners throughout the U.S. and in 27 other countries.

Reading Education Assistance Dogs - boy with greyhound

R.E.A.D. focuses on children aged 4 to 8, when it’s crucial for them to learn to read so they can read to learn forevermore. Participating kids make enormous strides in reading and communication skills, while along the way building self-esteem, confidence and social skills.
And there are other benefits—performance in other subjects tends to improve, as does motivation, attendance and even personal hygiene.
Reading Education Assistance Dogs - Girl with Spaniel
Science and test scores confirm that R.E.A.D. has the power to change a struggling child’s future, one book and one dog at a time. Check out Intermountain Therapy Animal’s website for more details about R.E.A.D.: https://therapyanimals.org.

If you’ve attended just about any of our events, you know we are dog lovers at heart, so finding a charity partner that combines sweet pups with our love of reading with kids is like finding a match made in heaven!

 

We invite you to help us support this incredible program and be part of Picture Book Summit 2023 on October 7th.

 

Come be a part of something AMAZING!

Kelli Panique

kpanique@gmail.com
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