Reading for Our Lives - by Maya Payne Smart

Book Synopsis

Completely revised and updated! Now in paperback. 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.

Review Quotes

"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

"I have rarely had as visceral a reaction to a book as I had in reading Maya Smart's brilliant and life-changing Reading For Our Lives. Like her namesake Maya Angelou, who suffered childhood trauma and couldn't speak, only to become a world-class orator and writer, Smart helps us to navigate the perilous but fulfilling route from birth to literacy in the first six years of life. This is a book that every parent must read to make sure their children reach their full potential as readers and citizens of our nation"
--Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times bestselling author of Entertaining Race: Performing Blackness in America, co-author of Unequal: A Story of America

"An amazing book for perhaps the most important job parents have: getting our kids to love to read."--Ryan Holiday, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Daily Stoic, The Obstacle Is the Way, and Ego Is the Enemy

"This book is a wonderful resource for families with young children, as it recognizes them as the child's first teachers. It weaves together an introduction to early literacy through the child's ages and stages with recommendations that support raising a reader!"
--Ann McClain Terrell, Early Childhood Education Consultant and National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Past President

"Parents will find Smart's solid advice well worth returning to."--Publishers Weekly

"In this useful book for parents, Smart, an educator and literacy advocate, provides guidelines for expanding a child's reading capabilities, laying out the necessary steps for creating an eager reader.... Smart is a knowledgeable, capable guide who has distilled a vast amount of research into an approachable package. A solid resource for diligent parents who want to create readers for life."--Kirkus

About the Author

Maya Payne Smart is a writer, parent educator and early literacy advocate. Her practical, evidence-based insights have been featured in major national media outlets including CBS Mornings, TIME, and PBS. She's a sought-after speaker who has presented keynote addresses and workshops for thousands of attendees at conferences nationwide within the library, early education, and K12 sectors. She and her family live in Milwaukee, where she serves as affiliated faculty in educational policy and leadership in the College of Education at Marquette University. Her website, MayaSmart.com, provides tips and tools for parents to nurture, teach, and advocate for kids on the road to reading.