School’s out, the sun is shining, and maybe the last thing on your child’s mind is cracking open a book. We get it. But here’s something worth knowing before the summer flies by: research shows that between 62% and 73% of elementary students lose reading ground every summer. By reading regularly over the summer break, kids can maintain or even enhance their reading skills.
The good news? It doesn’t take a lot. A few small habits, woven into your everyday routine, can make a real difference.
Before we dive in, if you’re looking for local summer reading programs, prizes, and library events near you, we’ve rounded up options from across Washington state in one easy resource.
Okay, let’s dig in.
Keep reading aloud, even if your child can read on their own.
This one surprises a lot of parents. Once kids can read independently, many families stop the bedtime read-aloud. But a 2026 study found that children who are read to nightly show stronger creativity and empathy, and kids read to daily are nearly three times more likely to pick up books on their own. So, keep going. It’s one of the best things you can do.
Let them choose what they read.
Graphic novels? Yes. Joke books? Absolutely. A book about bugs, trucks, or a kid detective who solves mysteries at summer camp? Perfect. When children get to choose, they actually want to read. And that motivation is EVERYTHING.
Make it part of the routine.
Reading doesn’t need its own special occasion. Tuck it in somewhere natural: after lunch, before bed, in the car. When it’s just part of the day, it stops feeling like homework and starts feeling like a habit.
Head to your local library.
Your library is one of the best-kept secrets of summer. Most branches offer free summer reading programs with activities, prizes, and events for kids. And there’s real research behind it. Children who participate in library summer reading programs show measurable gains in reading skills, with benefits that can last two years or more.
Read everywhere.
Road trip? Read the signs. Making dinner? Hand your child the recipe. Stopping for ice cream? Let them read the menu. Literacy lives in everyday life, and every little bit counts.
At Page Ahead Children’s Literacy Program, we make sure children across Washington, especially those who don’t have easy access to books at home, have something great to read. Through our Book Up Summer, Story Leaders, and Book Oasis programs, we’re putting free books directly into the hands of kids who need them most, so that every child can be a reader.
On March 5, we celebrated a huge milestone: the five-millionth book given away since Page Ahead’s founding in 1990!
Left to right: Dwayne Chappelle (DEEL; City of Seattle), Huyen Lam (Principal of Rising Star Elementary), Susan Dibble (Page Ahead’s Executive Director), Mayor Katie Wilson (City of Seattle), Jen LaVallee (SPS Board).
We marked the occasion at Rising Star Elementary in Seattle, with an all-school assembly where the pre-school students took home their February Story Leaders title, Jabari Tries by Gaia Cornwall. The book has a special bookplate identifying it as Page Ahead’s five millionth book and will go home with each of the students to help them get ready for Kindergarten. All students at Rising Star Elementary were able to select a free book to keep forever as part of the celebration.
The program kicked off with a read-aloud of Buffalo Fluffalo written by Bess Kalb and illustrated by Erin Kraan by Mayor Katie Wilson. A Washington state children’s choice award winner, Buffalo Fluffalo was a crowd favorite and the students loved seeing the Mayor. Student performances were next: the after-school theater group performed a specially written play about Page Ahead’s history and taught the school what five million books really looks like, and the school choir performed a great song from “XXXXXX” by “XXXXX”.
Chorus students singing on stage
Theater group performing the “Five Millionth Book” play for the school.
With big shoes to follow, local author/illustrators Jessixa Bagley and Sanae Ishida led the students in a creative character building session. Taking audience suggestions, they created a wonder character and named it “Moose” for our dear friend the Mariner Moose who showed up at the end of their performance. As the Moose hyped up the crowd, the pre-K students got onto the stage to accept the five millionth book.
Sanae Ishida (left) and Jessixa Bagley teaching the students about how they create stories.
It was a splendid and joyous afternoon filled with a love for books and reading. Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate!
Pre-K students on stage with their copies of the 5-millionth book, Jabari Tries. Students posing with Rising Star Principal, Pre-K Teaching Team, the Rising Star Firebird, and the Mariner Moose.
Local and independent book stores have long been amazing partners with Page Ahead. This year, we’re excited to announce that as part of Independent Book Store Day, a few of our favorite indie partners are hosting a book drive to support Page Ahead with new books.
Shopping around and working on your Indie Bookstore Passport? When you stop in at these stores, check out the Page Ahead display and consider purchasing a book to donate to Page Ahead from their selection!
Whether you’ve decided to take the Bookstore Day Passport Challenge, or are just planning to shop at your neighborhood bookstore, make sure to check out the stores above to participate in our book drive. Each store will have a selection of specially curated children’s books for you to peruse!
If you’d like to have Page Ahead buy the books instead, you can make a monetary donation here and we will purchase a high-interest title for a child who needs it most.
Thank you for supporting kids and reading while you celebrate Independent Bookstore Day!
You are invited! Please join us for lunch on Wednesday, April 29 to imagine what’s possible when every child has books. A Taste for Reading pairs a delicious lunch with an inspiring program, including a special performance from some of our students who want to share a story with you! Choose how you would like to be involved and we’ll see you there.
Since 1990, our mission has been to get books into the hands of kids who need them most. Because of your partnership over the last 30+ years, we will be giving away our five millionth book on March 5th at Rising Star Elementary!!
The five millionth book is part of our Story Leaders spring distribution. The preschool students at Rising Star will be receiving their copies of Jabari Tries by Gaia Cornwall on stage at an all school assembly to celebrate this historic milestone.
Thank you, for all your support in giving EVERY kid the chance to read and helping us accomplish this amazing feat.
Black History Month
This Black History Month, we encourage you and your young readers to read books that celebrate Black joy and achievement. There are so many great stories to choose from, for all ages, that amplify and highlight the Black experience.
All the Blues in the Sky by Renee Watson is a great example. The Newbery Award winner this year, All the Blues in the Sky discusses grief in an accessible and engaging way. This story is about a young girl’s journey to heal, grow, and forgive herself.
Books are a powerful medium for representation and we hope that you and your loved ones celebrate Black History Month by reading together.
What we’re reading…
Linda Hintz volunteers with Page Ahead as the other half of the dynamic duo that manages and maintains our Story Time crafts and kits. This past year, she was awarded the Sarajane Beal Award for Volunteer Excellence. You can read more about Linda’s contributions to Page Ahead. Here’s what she has to say about the books she’s currently reading:
“I am reading—actually listening on Audible—to The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown. It is very long! My 23-year-old granddaughter recommended it to me after she read it and said, ‘definitely worth reading—I don’t say that about too many books.’ I have read a couple of his other books so I knew what I was in for. I like the short chapters that often shift from one character to another, so there are several story lines going at the same time. I like the science in the book even though I don’t understand all of it and some of it is futuristic. My lighter reading at bedtime is The Secret, Book and Scone Society by Ellery Adams. Maybe one of these books/authors will be interesting to you!”
Save the date: our annual benefit luncheon for children’s literacy
It’s hard to believe, but spring is quickly approaching and this mean it’s time for our annual benefit luncheon for children’s literacy, A Taste for Reading! We’d love for you to join us for an inspiring hour about how you are making a difference in a child’s life with books.
See you on April 29, 2026 at the King Street Ballroom!
Trilogy for Kids is a dedicated champion of literacy and an enthusiastic supporter of Page Ahead’s mission. Their involvement takes many forms–they serve as book fair helpers, organize book drives, and generously donate through the Trilogy for Kids Foundation, to name a few. Thanks to their incredible support and generous gift this year, Page Ahead will be able to purchase books for four entire schools!
Trilogy for Kids, thank you for helping ensure that every child has the opportunity to discover the joy of reading.
Thank you for giving!
The season of giving is a way for people to show their loved ones and their communities that they care about them. This year, you all raised enough to meet our matching goal more than five times over. We are so grateful for everyone who supports Page Ahead in any way that they can. Children all over Washington will be able to bolster their reading skills, gain confidence, and succeed in all aspects of their lives because of you.
Thank you for building home libraries with us.
Your holiday generosity means more kids get books!
At Page Ahead, the holidays are less about shopping lists and more about reading lists. And you, our amazing community, showed up in a big way this season, donating more than 3,000 brand-new books through holiday book drives!
That’s 3,000 chances for kids to unwrap a story of their own and start building a home library they’ll treasure. A huge thank-you to every group who participated–and extra applause for Barnes & Noble, Secret Garden Books, and the Eastside Welcome Club for spreading the most book joy this season.
What we’re reading…
Nance Daiker volunteers with Page Ahead as one-half of the dynamic duo that manage and maintains our Story Time crafts and kits. This past year, she was awarded the Sarajane Beal Award for Volunteer Excellence. You can read more about Nance’s contributions to Page Ahead. Here’s what Nance has to say about her January reading:
“After the holiday, I usually enjoy reading mysteries. Favorite authors are Louise Penny, Robert Galbraith, and Richard Osman. I’ve just finished The Impossible Fortune by Osman. Currently visiting Three Pines via Penny’s The Black Wolf and looking forward to the next book in my stash, The Hallmarked Man by Galbraith. I enjoy the different approaches that each of these authors employ in solving the mysteries they encounter. A good mystery and a cup of tea in front of the fireplace, ahhh such joy. Now if I were only sitting in a cottage in England.”
To kick off this year’s holiday season–and the season of giving overall–you, our phenomenal supporters, showed up for us.
We’re thrilled to share that we met–and exceeded–our GivingTuesday matching challenge! This year, our generous sponsors, The Schreiber Family Foundation, provided $10,000 in matching funds for all GivingTuesday gifts. With your support, we surpassed our goal, raising over $20,000 to spend on home libraries for kids who need them most.
Your generosity and efforts are what make our work possible. From all of us at Page Ahead: thank you for championing children’s literacy and helping us open the door to a brighter future for young readers.
What your support makes possible: preschool reading
We recently shipped copies of Jabari Tries; Augustus and His Smile; and, Not Norman to 1,700 preschoolers across Washington as part of our Story Leaders program. Teachers read each book using the shared-reading techniques we train them in, and kids get copies of each book take home! Learn more here.
Every child deserves new books
Books are the most important tool for learning–and one of life’s greatest pleasures. No child should grow up without new books in their homes. With your help, they won’t have to.
“Thank you for my new book. I am excited to read this summer. These books are special to me because I don’t have books at home.”
Your tax-deductible gift by December 31, will help us say ‘Yes!’ to even more kids in 2026. Thank you for making a difference!
All of us at Page Ahead send warm holiday wishes to you–our heroes!
This holiday season, we extend our heartfelt thanks to you–our incredible community of supporters. Your advocacy, financial support, and volunteer efforts have brought the joy of choosing new books and building home libraries to thousands of kids across Washington.
What a wonderful gift you’ve given–thank you!
What we’re reading…
Pat Gentino is a Page Ahead volunteer who supports Page Ahead as a book fair helper, office volunteer, and special events volunteer! Here’s what she has to say about a book she recently finished:
“I just finished the book, Kuleana, by Sara Kehaulani Goo. This nonfiction book is about 90 acres of land, on the east side of Maui, that was handed down to her family in 1848 by King Kamehameha III. When a property tax bill arrives that is a 500% increase, the family needs to decide whether to fight the bill to keep the land, or sell to a millionaire outsider. Sara travels from the mainland to reconnect with family still living there and learn more about the history of the land.”
Mark your calendars for December 2—it’s GivingTuesday!
This year a generous supporter, The Schreiber Family Foundation, has pledged to match all GivingTuesday donations, up to $10,000. That means every dollar you give will be doubled to help us bring Book Up Summer to two schools that might not otherwise be able to participate.
Together, we can give hundreds of kids the power of books and the confidence that comes with being a strong reader.
Phinney Holiday Bookfest
The Phinney Holiday Bookfest will take place on Saturday 11/22 at the Phinney Center from 2pm – 4pm.
Holiday Bookfest is an annual Seattle tradition on Phinney Ridge each November for book gift shopping, meeting and mingling with local authors who will sign your books, and donating to local literacy causes.
Donations to Page Ahead will be collected at the event! Come join us for us a fun afternoon in Phinney where you can meet local authors and get some new books for yourself and for kids in Washington.
Holiday Book Shopping
During this giving season, we are so grateful to partner with our friends at Barnes & Noble again this year for their holiday book drives. They have made it extra easy for you to buy books for everyone on your list AND for the kids Page Ahead serves.
From now – December 15, shop at these Barnes and Noble locations for an easy way to support Page Ahead:
Encourage any high school seniors in your life to apply to the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship program. The Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship provides high school seniors with up to $40,000 for college plus internship opportunities at Amazon.
Selected students will study computer science while gaining real-world tech experience. Beyond financial support, scholars join a community that provides ongoing mentorship, networking opportunities, and career guidance throughout their academic journey.
Key info at-a-glance:
Applications are open now! Deadline to apply is January 15, 2026
Up to $40,000 in scholarship funds
Summer internship opportunity at Amazon
Eligible students must plan to:
Major in computer science
Attend an accredited 4-year college or 2-year college with plans to transfer
Know a student who might be interested? Share this opportunity with them and their families!
Celebrate different heritages through reading
As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to an end and Native American Heritage Month begins, we encourage you to celebrate different cultures through reading!
You can find books on our Bookshop.org page that highlight Hispanic and Indigenous authors, stories, and their cultures.
Reading Events
What a fun start to the school year it’s been! We’ve had such a wonderful time with our volunteers and students at reading events.
Volunteers from the Page Ahead community, EY, and First Tech spent 62 hours reading to 184 first graders at 3 different elementary schools.
We are incredibly thankful to our volunteers for inspiring a love of reading in the children in our community.
Ballard GivesBack
This Black Friday weekend, Nov 28th – 30th, shop at Secret Garden Books in Ballard and get great deals on books and gifts for all ages.
Each year, businesses in the Ballard Business Alliance select a charity to support as part of Ballard Gives Back, and our partners at Secret Garden have chosen Page Ahead as their designated charity! A percentage of the proceeds will benefit Page Ahead and help give new books to kids who need them most this holiday season.
What we’re reading…
Sophia Padua has been volunteering with Page Ahead since 2023 as a special events volunteer. You can often find Sophia at tabling events in the community raising awareness and advocating for children’s literacy. Here’s what she has to say about Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.
“I just finished reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. His shows “No Reservations” and “Parts Unknown” were huge staples growing up in my family’s household. I always thought he was a wonderful storyteller, piecing together his adventures for people to experience from their own homes. Reading Kitchen Confidential was an opportunity to start from the beginning of his career. His voice comes through on every page, and if you were a fan of his, I can’t recommend it enough!”
Page Ahead volunteers are vital to our ability to reach over 30,000 young readers all across the state. We are so grateful for their help in putting brand new books in the hands of kids who need them most. Volunteers make our programs possible in countless ways: sorting, shelving, and stickering books; maintaining and restocking our Book Oasis libraries; reading with children during Story Time; serving on our committees and Board of Directors; helping kids choose books at Book Up Summer book fairs—and so much more!
This year, over 500 volunteers gave more than 3,565 hours to ensure EVERY child has the chance to read. We are profoundly thankful to each and every one of them. Thank you, volunteers—you make the magic happen!
Nance and Linda began volunteering for Page Ahead in July of 2021 as weekly office volunteers in the Story Time craft center. In preparation for the return of in-person Story Times for the 2021 school year, Nance and Linda quickly began creating new craft kits. They reorganized all the resources for Story Time crafts and over the last 4 years have transformed the craft replenishment process to be much more streamlined and efficient.
This past year has been extra special: Nance and Linda have put in a combined total of over 375 volunteer hours! This is especially impressive considering that Linda was out for a few months recovering from surgery. But, that never slowed them down from replenishing over 440 Story Time craft kits and assembling over 500 craft kits for summer story times at Ballard and High Point. These craft kit totals translate into support for over 1,400 students in our Story Time program. Nance and Linda also delivered over 700 books to their 2 Book Oases this past year, keeping the neighborhoods near Olympic Hills Elementary School and ReWA in Lake City supplied with high-quality children’s books. These two are an amazing team!
Linda and Nance’s passion for Page Ahead, and their many hours of service to all of our programs, help us bring books and the joy of reading to countless schools and children.
Thank you, Nance and Linda! You truly make a difference at Page Ahead!
Community Book Drive at the Mariners
On Tuesday, August 26, while the Mariners played against the San Diego Padres, Mariners Care and PACCAR hosted a book drive to benefit Page Ahead at T-Mobile Park.
Thank you to our volunteers who helped us at the game! Their passion for literacy was the real MVP, helping us smash our Mariners Book Drive record. With their support, we will be able to give away over 1,100 new books to kids who need them most!
Page Ahead’s impact this year
During the 2024 – 25 program year, Page Ahead:
Provided 30,0005 kids with 325,141 new books
Partnered with 175 preschools, elementary schools, and other community organizations
and stocked 19 little free libraries with over 6,300 books!
We extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who was a part of this journey—it takes many people to make this work possible.
Join our new committee!
We are starting a new committee! Our Social Media/Marketing committee will focus on building strategy, generating content, and discussing metrics/impact. With an increasing need to grow our social media presence, we have decided that the most effective way to expand Page Ahead’s social media presence is to create a committee of dedicated volunteers to help us shine and beat the algorithm.
Meetings will begin in the fall and will take place monthly from 6pm – 7pm. Meeting dates are still TBD and will be dependent on the interest and availability of interested community members.
Roles available are:
Content Planner
Content Creator
Community Ambassador
Analyst
Content Librarian
Each role is anticipated to have about 2-4 hours of work outside of the monthly meetings!
If you’re interested in joining or learning more, please contact Laura.
What we’re reading…
Kim Ferse has been a Page Ahead volunteer since 2017. Her volunteer tenure has spanned many projects. She was an instrumental part of the Book Oasis project through her work with vendors, hosts, and community members. She also works as a summer story time reader and is working on a project to create labels for guiding questions for each of our Story Time books. In her free time, Kim is a playwright and an avid tennis player.
Here’s what she has to say about the books she is reading: “My 2025 summer reading list is a story of apples and oranges! I am currently reading two books: First is Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe, which I picked up after hearing an NPR interview with the author. I didn’t know anything about the history of the IRA, and I love true stories that read like fiction! The other book I’m reading right now is The Losers Club by Andrew Clements. I am co-reading this middle-grade chapter book aloud over Zoom a half-hour at a time over the summer with Saryn, a 9-year-old girl from New Jersey, as part of a program called “ARK” (Actors Reading with Kids). We’re taking turns reading pages, and it’s silly fun!”
Page Ahead is pleased to present the 2025 Sarajane Beal Award for Volunteer Excellence to Nance Daiker and Linda Hintz.
From left to right: Lisa Ceniceros, volunteers of the year: Linda Hintz and Nance Daiker, and Laura Le
Nance and Linda began volunteering for Page Ahead in July of 2021 after learning about us from Susie and her daughter Annie (long time book donors) in Linda’s knitting group. They started as weekly office volunteers taking on the Story Time craft center. Linda and Nance quickly began the process of creating new craft kits and preparing for Story Times to return to in-person for the 2021 school year. It’s always a challenge inheriting a project already created by someone else, but they eagerly and methodically worked their way through all the various googly eyes, scraps of paper, stickers, and paper plates. They got all the resources for Story Time crafts reorganized and over the last 4 years have transformed the process of craft replenishing to be much more streamlined and efficient.
Linda and Nance also supported the Book Oasis project by helping to restock 3 Oases located in SE Seattle, starting in late 2021. Monthly they would go to their Oases and fill them up with more books. When we had some openings with Oases located in North Seattle, they swapped to 2 Oases located near Olympic Hills Elementary and ReWA in Lake City. Over the past 4 years they have completed over 97 Book Oases restocks, supplying over 3,800 books to the community.
Starting in 2023, Nance and Linda created special story time crafts to go with the garden theme at our new Ballard Locks Summer Story Times. They created unique take home crafts that matched the books being shared at story time: bugs, birds, jellyfish, caterpillar, and my favorite a butterfly. These take-home crafts help enhance the experience of the little kids and families who come to these special story times. I think they might even be the reason that we have seen a dramatic increase in attendance. This summer our average number of kids participating in the summer story times at Ballard is 35 kids!
Linda and Nance also helped create 2 new themes for Story Times: Endangered Species and Community Helpers. It’s a big deal to have entire new themes and kits for Story Times, because it not only includes finding the books, but coming up with the crafts, the flannel story, and the finger play rhymes. And just this past year, Nance and Linda helped a team of Story Time readers make some important updates to some of the existing crafts, so we now have alternate crafts for 7 of the Story Time themes.
Of course, Linda and Nance are no strangers to all the various volunteering activities we have in the Page Ahead office and they have helped with sorting kid thank you’s, stickering Story Leader books, cutting and bundling Book Up Summer bookplates, bundling Book Up Summer bags, and packing those bags and bookplates to ship out to our schools. They stuff thank you envelopes with letters, transfer paper survey responses to the computer, prepare nametags for the luncheon, and always provide important advice to help us improve our systems. And of course they do counting, lots and lots of counting, whether it’s books, small craft pieces, or the bags & bookplates, there is a never ending amount of counting that needs to be done!
This past year has been extra special for Nance and Linda, who have put in a combined total of over 375 volunteer hours, which is extra impressive considering that Linda was out for a few months recovering from surgeries. But, that never slowed them down from replenishing over 440 Story Time craft kits and assembling over 500 craft kits for summer story times at Ballard and Highpoint. These craft totals translate to supporting over 1,400 students in our Story Time program!! This past year they have also been working on adding in stickers with all the questions to the 188 different Story Time books that are in the 48 different themed kits. Nance and Linda also delivered over 700 books to their 2 Book Oases this past year, keeping the neighborhoods near Olympic Hills Elementary School and ReWA (Refugee Women’s Alliance) in Lake City supplied with great children’s books. These two are an amazing team!
Linda and Nance’s passion for Page Ahead and their many hours of service to all of our programs, helps us to support so many schools and children with books and the joy of reading.
Thank you, Nance and Linda! You truly make a difference at Page Ahead!
Page Ahead is facing a serious funding shortfall that could impact the children we serve.
A major corporate partner unexpectedly reduced their support just as we began serving more students than ever. As a result, we now face a serious funding gap. And, as federal budget cuts threaten school budgets, particularly for programs for low-income families, we are receiving more requests for help from our partners.
Page Ahead is not in danger of closing our programs, but we are at a critical point. This shortfall means we may not be able to serve every child currently in our programs, or add new students who need us. Fewer kids will experience the joy of choosing their own books, building a home library, and discovering the magic of reading.
That’s not just disappointing—it’s dangerous. Because when children fall behind in reading, they fall behind in life.
Our most urgent need is to raise $50,000 right now to keep our programs running this summer and into the fall. But, that’s just the start—over the coming months, we need to close a total shortfall of $160,000. Your gift today helps us stay on track and protect access to books and reading support for kids across Washington.
We’re a community that believes every child deserves the chance to succeed. That’s why I’m asking for your help today. Whether you can give $50 to support one child, or $1250 to help an entire classroom, your gift is urgently needed and will be put to work immediately.
If you have any questions, please email us at info@pageahead.org or call (206) 461-0123. Thank you for your support for kids and reading!
