2024 Annual Report
A new chapter of families reading
In 2024, you helped families around the world unlock the magic of daily reading. Together, we embraced change to help children and their caregivers thrive through the power of stories.
A new video from Rebecca
A new strategy to get families reading
In 2024, we refined our strategy to adapt to the changing needs of families and the evolving reading landscape. By harnessing digital technology, we’re creating a world where families start reading together well before school.
Just 10 minutes a day spent reading together at key early stages can help children develop cognitive, pre-literacy, and social-emotional skills that set them up for success in school and life. Our family-centered approach positions Worldreader’s impact at the intersection of early childhood development, pre-litearcy skills, and family cohesion through the implementation of three transformative pillars:
- Reading Routines: Establishing daily reading habits.
- Reading Games: Engaging parents/caregivers in motivational games that reinforce reading routines.
- Reading Circles: Building a global network of advocates for storytelling and amplifying the role of families reading together.
Bonding over stories:
See your impact
A family of Reading Heroes
The Owino family, proud users of the BookSmart app in Nairobi, share how their lives changed after participating in Worldreader’s Reading Hero Challenge.
Watch the video and meet the readers.
When stories take root
Reading together strengthens communities. Refugee and migrant parents and children in Guilford County, North Carolina grow, learn, and connect – breaking language barriers and creating lifelong reading habits with BookSmart.
“Wakenya, be fearless”
CEO Rebecca Chandler Leege and Olivia Kimani, Director of Partnerships and leader of our team in Kenya, discuss East Africa’s education future and the bold steps needed to support families so that children are school-ready.
Unprecedented impact in Kenya
2024 was an extraordinary year for reading in Kenya. With our new strategy focused on family reading routines, social media engagement, and community outreach, we exceeded our goals – reaching over 20,000 families and distributing more than 127,000 engaging, culturally relevant books. During our three-month Reading Heroes (Mashujaa Wa Kasoma) campaign, we studied the number of words children aged 3 to 8 encountered. Families who read 25+ books, children were exposed to over 30,000 words, including 3,000 unique words. The year’s outstanding success proves the enormous potential of combining digital technology with parental engagement to enable the next generation of young children to be school-ready.
Why families love BookSmart
In December, Worldreader and our partner Moya surveyed over a thousand South African readers, revealing that BookSmart is seen by families as a powerful educational tool, with a primary focus on improving literacy, language skills, and school readiness. Emotional bonding and family routines play a role in motivation to read on BookSmart, with learning remaining the main driver for usage. With 71% of families reading at least twice a week, BookSmart is integrated into daily life, fostering strong connections through shared reading experiences. Key motivators for families reading more than five books weekly include support on making reading fun and daily reminders.
BookSmart like never before
In 2024, we launched a new and enhanced BookSmart app, designed to make digital reading more accessible and engaging for families worldwide. Featuring an intuitive interface, customizable profiles, and fun interactive learning activities, BookSmart fosters early literacy and strengthens parent-child reading habits, empowering families to build a lifelong love for reading. Studies show its impact, with parents reading more and children improving vocabulary and comprehension. Recognized with the EdTech Cool Tool Award in open educational resources / open learning solutions, BookSmart is helping families build strong reading routines, spark curiosity, and prepare children for a lifetime of learning.
“Reading should be a culture in families. It starts from the family, it goes to the school, and when they grow up, [children] learn to pick a book. I can see reading has really helped my children.”
Sarah
mother of five
“BookSmart is a very good app for children and parents. I can read with my kids every night or every morning.”
Wazhma
mother of three
With BookSmart we reached readers
in 110+ countries
Your impact by the numbers
439,260
Readers served
in 2024
2,554,536
Books distributed
in 2024
22,623,625
Cumulative readers
since 2010
Our financials
Source of funds
Donations & Grants
$4,458,288
In-kind Gifts
$682,867
Program Income & Other Revenue
$345,793
Total Revenue
$5,486,948
Use of funds
Program services
$4,559,791
Mgt and General
$1,130,441
Fundraising
$826,882
Total Expenses
$6,517,114
Collective impact
Thank you to our partners
“The children, to whom we were able to introduce BookSmart had a variety of reactions. I believe what stands out the most was being able to offer them a larger variety of choices than we could with our physical book distributions. According to some of our parents, just being able to navigate, interact, and self-select books motivated and jumpstarted some our struggling readers.”
Deborah Summers, National Hookup of Black Women, Inc. Joliet Chapter
“Worldreader has given our students an opportunity to access books that they may not have been able to otherwise. It eliminates the need for transportation and money. It has also given families an opportunity to read together and complete activities as a family. We have also enjoyed the fact that our Spanish speaking families have access too!”
Denise Marshall, Cahokia Unit School District #187
You helped get families reading
Thank You to our long-standing board members, individual and institutional donors, and new supporters who joined this passionate group of organizations, publishers, and Reading Champions in accelerating and amplifying the impact of Worldreader in 2024.
Organizations & publishers
The following comprises corporates, nonprofit organizations, and institutional partners.
Absa Bank Kenya
Adwinsa Publications (Gh) Ltd.
Afram Publications (Ghana) Limited
African Storybook Initiative
Aga Khan Foundation
Ahlan Simsim (Sesame Workshop)
Akhlesh.com
Al Salwa Publishers
Albert Whitman and Co.
Amazon.com Inc.
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Andrea Doshi (Author)
Arte Público Press
Asala Publishers
Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children (AWIC)
Astra Young Readers (Astra Publishing House)
Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy
Barefoot College Tilonia
Bear Grylls (Bonnier Zaffre Limited)
Biblioteca Virtual Universal
Bioconciencia A.C.
Boeing Company Charitable Trust
Book Dash
BookBox
Bookmark Africa
Booktalk Africa Limited
Brighton Jones
Bruño
Calkins Creek (Astra Publishing House)
Collaborate Community Projects (NPC)
Comics Uniting Nations
Crabtree Publishing
Daily Dump
Dar Al Yasmine Publishing
Dastkari Haat Samiti
Delinian (former Euromoney)
Dolphin Press
Dorling Kindersley (Penguin Random House)
E&D Vision Publishing
East African Educational Publishers
Ecobank Foundation
Edebé
Edtrivia LLC
Ediciones Lexicom
Ediciones Pichoncito
Editorial Casals
Edovo
EdTech Digest
EdTech Hub
El Desván de las Letras
Epignosis LLC
Franklin Watts (Hachette Children’s Group)
Friday’s Child Publishing
Garnet Martmag Ventures
GemmaMedia
Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students (GEEARS)
Ghana Education Service
Godmothers Bookstore
Golden Cocoa Books
Goodlife Pharmacy
Good Today
Google
Graph Ediciones (Industrial Solutions of Perú SAC)
Grass Roots Press
HalfMyDAF
Hameray Publishing Group
Highlights for Children
Hugo Rodríguez (Author)
Humble Bundle
Imaara Mall
Inner Truth Books
Inkitt GmbH Household
Intertrust Cloud Services Corporation
Intuit
Iván Bolaños (Author)
Jabal Amman Publishers
Jackie Saettone (Author)
Kalimat
Kane Press (Astra Publishing House)
Kenya Literature Bureau
Kenya National Library Service (KNLS)
Kidza Books
Kitabna
Lantana Publishing
Lee & Low Books
Lerner Publishing Group
Lightbox Learning
Longhorn Publishers
Malabares
Mango Publishing Group
Maria Luisa Figueroa (Author)
Mellanie Bauslaugh (Author)
Microsoft Corporation
Miriam Laundry Publishing Company
Moran Publishers
Mountain Top Publishers
Mountype Publishing
Moya App / Datafree
Muskaan
My Special Word
National Council of Educational Research and Training
New Africa Books
New Readers Press (ProLiteracy)
Ogilvy
Onyinye Ough (Author)
Opera
Osu Children’s Library
Overseas Development Institute (ODI)
Oxford University Press
Paypal
Piccadilly Press (Bonnier Zaffre Limited)
Pickle Yolk Books
Plan International Jordan
Prabhat Prakashan
Pratham Books
Project Gutenberg
PS Publishing
Queenex Publishers
Quest Foundation
Ranok
Read With You
Reading Teacher
Red Oak Limited
Rimal Books
Room to Read
Roundhill Books
Safaricom
Salesforce
Sam-Woode Ltd.
Santillana
Sesame Workshop India
Smart4Kids (MoToLi)
Smartline Publishers
SoftwareOne
Star Bright Books
Step Publishers
Story Shares
Storymoja
Storytime Africa
Sub-Saharan Publishers
Survey Monkey
The 2nd & 7 Foundation
The Asia Foundation
Ørsted
Team4Tech
Tellumind Foundation
The Catherine Mayer Foundation
The Experiment
The Feminist Press
The Foundation for a Better World
The Giving Block
The Good Book Company
Treasure Books
Tulika Publishers
Ubongo International
Umba Creations
Upfield
Vaquita (Prudent Pens)
Vivat
Voices of Future Generations
Vokal
Wordsong (Astra Publishing House)
World Vision
Xylem Inc.
Young Authors Publishing
Your impact in the news
Thank you for supporting families!
Your support brings reading into the daily lives of families around the world. Share these extraordinary stories and achievements with your family and community to inspire more young learners.
