Page Ahead has been named Bonneville Seattle’s Charity of the Month for September, for providing new books and developing reading activities that empower at-risk children.

Page Ahead operates on one simple and astounding fact: being read to as a youngster is the foremost predictor of academic success in childhood. If a child can read at grade level by 3rd grade, they’ll continue to read at grade level throughout their academic career. Succeeding begins with reading.

Children with literacy problems typically come from low-income families, have no books at home, and have caregivers who are not aware of the importance of reading to their children. Yet studies have proven, beyond dispute, that access to age-appropriate books and reading aloud to children are essential to developing language and reading skills.

Since 1990, Page Ahead has placed over 2.3 million new books into the hands of 650,000 at-risk children through collaborations with schools, social service agencies, preschools, and early childhood centers across Washington State.

For more information about Page Ahead, visit their website at www.pageahead.org.