Children who were read to at least three times a week by a family member were almost twice as likely to score in the top 25% in reading than children who were read to less than 3 times a week.[2]

62% of parents with a high socioeconomic status read to their children every day, compared to 36% of parents with a low socioeconomic status.[3]

87% of students who reported reading for fun on their own time once a month or more performed at the Proficient level, while students who never or hardly ever read for fun performed at the Basic level. Students who read for fun every day scored the highest.[4]

Out-of-school reading habits of students has shown that even 15 minutes a day of independent reading can expose students to more than a million words of text in a year.[5]

Children growing up in homes with many books get 3 years more schooling than children from bookless homes, independent of their parents' education, occupation and class.[6]

The only behavior measure that correlates significantly with reading scores is the number of books in the home.[7]

An analysis of a national data set of 100,000 U.S. school children found that access to printed materials - and not poverty - is the critical variable affecting reading acquisition.[8]

Even children’s books have more varying and unusual words than prime time TV or children’s TV.  Also, rarity and variety of words in children’s books is greater than that in adult conversation.[9]

Students who report having all four types of reading materials (books, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias) in their home scored, on average, higher than those who report having fewer reading materials.[10]

When children have more access to books and other print materials, they develop more positive attitudes towards reading and learning.[11]

61 percent of low-income families have no books at all in their homes for their children.[12]

80% of pre-school and after-school programs serving low-income populations have no age-appropriate books for their children.[13]

In middle-income neighborhoods the ratio of age-appropriate books per child is 13 to 1 (13 books for every 1 child).  In low-income neighborhoods the ratio is 1 to 300 (1 book for every 300 children).[14] 

The educational careers of 25 to 40 percent of American children are imperiled because they don’t read quickly enough, or easily enough.[15]

It is estimated that the cost of illiteracy to business and the taxpayer is $20 billion per year.[16]

According to the National Academy on an Aging Society, 73 billion dollars is the estimated annual cost of low literacy skills in the form of longer hospital stays, emergency room visits, more doctor visits, and increased medication.[17]