Join the All Families Reading Challenge!
Share a Story. Shape a Life.
Worldreader is on a mission to get families reading.
Worldreader is inviting local and regional organizations to join the 2026 All Families Reading Challenge as community partners, helping spread the word and bring a global literacy moment home to the families they serve.
About the Challenge
The All Families Reading Challenge is a month-long campaign running throughout September in honor of UNESCO’s International Literacy Day (September 8). Families can access Worldreader’s entire library on the free BookSmart app with no paywalls, ads, or hidden subscriptions and read curated children’s books and guided activities in Arabic, English, French, Kiswahili, and Spanish, at no cost.
The Challenge launches September 2 with a global virtual event co-hosted by Worldreader, the Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN), and the Bezos Family Foundation. Throughout the month, participating families are encouraged to read ten children’s books, complete five Brain Building Moments through Vroom Tips, and build a daily reading routine with their children.
Why It Matters
Reading together is one of the most effective ways families can support a child’s early development. Research consistently shows that shared reading strengthens vocabulary, language development, school readiness, and caregiver-child relationships during the years when children are most receptive to learning.
Yet many families continue to face barriers to accessing high-quality reading materials and literacy support. Worldreader’s digital model helps address these barriers by putting books directly into the hands of families through the devices they already use. Worldreader’s own data shows that families who complete a Reading Challenge go on to read more than 10 additional books during the challenge month, evidence that these experiences help establish sustainable reading behaviors in the home.
The All Families Reading Challenge gives families both the tools and the occasion to make reading together a priority this September.
How You Can Help
We’re inviting local organizations to help bring the Challenge to the families they serve. That could look like:
- Sharing the Challenge through your social channels
- Passing along a flyer to your network or grantees
- Helping translate campaign materials into the language spoken in your community, if your organization is able
- Reaching caregivers in whatever other way fits your organization best
If your team is active on social media, we’d love your help starting the week of August 15 with an initial push, then continuing to share throughout September as the Challenge runs.
After the Challenge wraps, we’ll ask each partner to help us showcase 2 to 3 families who took part, with a photo and a few words about their experience. These stories help us celebrate what families accomplished and show the impact of reading together.
How We'll Support You
As a community partner, you’ll receive:
- Co-branded social media templates, including tiles where you can add your own logo
- Digital and print flyers ready to share with your network
- Campaign graphics for the duration of the Challenge
- Recognition as a community partner, with your logo featured on the Challenge’s event page
- The ability to highlight your organization’s role in the Challenge, including overall reach and family stories, as part of your own impact reporting and donor communications
The reading habits that families build during this single month can last well beyond that. Thank you for helping make that possible.
Share a story. Shape a life.
Next Steps
Ready to join the Challenge? Here’s how to get started:
- Contact us at development@worldreader.org to request our outreach toolkit, including social media templates, flyers, and graphics.
- Share the Challenge with your network and tag us in your posts.
- Reach out to us anytime if you have questions or want to talk through how to get involved.
Take Your Support Further
If your organization is interested in supporting the Challenge financially, Worldreader also offers sponsorship opportunities. Sponsors receive co-branded campaign assets, recognition at the global launch event, and a post-campaign impact summary for their region. Their brand and logo will also be featured in the BookSmart app for the duration of the challenge.
