Better futures for
children and youth

So far we’ve helped over 15 million children
and youth improve their lives with books
in schools, homes, and communities
– including in crisis and conflict settings.
We strive for inclusivity in our programming.

Supporting young children

The early years of a child’s life are critical for healthy brain development. Without early access to developmentally appropriate reading materials and education programming, more children will eventually join the ranks of the 250 million children around the world who do not learn basic literacy skills.

Worldreader’s Pre-Primary Program

We work with partners whose programs reach families, communities, healthcare workers, and preschools to normalize a culture of reading and storytelling early on in a child’s life. Our program focuses on strengthening teacher practice in preschools and the home learning environment, ultimately promoting cognitive and language growth and social-emotional learning in young children.

Key strategies

  • Curation of relevant storybooks for young children aligned to learning needs
  • Skills training for parents and caregivers
  • Social and behavior change communication with parents and caregivers
  • Capacity-building for preschool teachers
  • Data collection and feedback for early learning partners

Improving reading development in primary schools

All children should be able to read with fluency by the age of 10. Yet over half of children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read and understand a simple story by the time they leave primary school.

Worldreader’s Primary Grade Reading Program

We seek to improve a child’s digital literacy and reading proficiency by focusing on time spent reading and the five core reading skills: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Beyond skills development, we encourage a culture of reading for pleasure. This ensures quality learning for all students and builds a foundation of life-long learning.

Key strategies

  • Professional development for teachers on reading instruction and integration of digital reading into lessons
  • Curation of relevant books aligned to curriculum
  • Provision of digital textbooks, teacher guides, student workbooks, and supplementary books
  • Data collection and feedback
  • Social and behavior change communication with students
  • Parental and community engagement

Empowering young people to become global citizens of tomorrow

There are 1.8 billion young people in the world. More than a fifth of them, the majority women, lack sufficient training, education, and employment opportunities.

Worldreader’s Youth and Adolescents Program

Worldreader’s Youth and Adolescents Program is designed to engage young people and raise their awareness about gender and life skills. The program focuses on social-emotional learning and 21st century skills development, so that they can be agents of change in their communities.

Key strategies

  • Digital literacy training for partner organizations and youth
  • Thematic collections of books addressing gender, life skills, and social-emotional learning
  • Writing competitions to encourage youth participation
  • Mentorship clubs for vulnerable youth

Impact built on partnerships

Worldreader works with partners globally, reaching over 13 million readers to date.

See our partnerships >