Making books and reading part of growing up in Maine
Children who are introduced to reading at an early age tend to excel at school and are quicker to develop critical learning skills. Raising Readers partners with every hospital, midwife, and primary care provider in Maine to give a library of high-quality books to every child in Maine, starting at birth through age 5.
books given at birth and well-child visits
of children in Maine reached
of supporting early literacy
Looking for doctor recommended children's books?
Our book recommendations are carefully selected by a group of doctors and early literacy experts. Below are the books we're currently giving out, and you can browse the other 270+ books we've selected and given away over the past 22 years.
Beautiful Blackbird
If I Built a School
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Baby Bear's Books
In the Tall, Tall Grass
Provide books to young Mainers
We give free, high-quality books to every child in Maine, starting at their birth and at each well-child visit through age five. To date, we've given away over 3 million books.
Make expert recommendations
Our advisory committee researches and chooses the best books for 13 various age groups, as well as subject specific titles that address adoption, toilet training, nutrition and more.
Share literacy resources
We help parents and caregivers identify and access high-quality resources — including organizations, programs, activities and apps — that support early literacy.
"Raising Readers represents a powerful, statewide action expressly designed to support and empower families in building their children's literacy. I can think of few things more important than that for the future of our state."
—Susan Bennett-Armistead Ph.D., Raising Readers Early Literacy Advisor
We've redesigned our website to better support you and your little one on your literacy journey. Here, you can explore all the books we've selected over the years and the reasons we chose them. Learn about what's happening in your little one's brain and body in the early years and how that may influence how your child interacts with books. Explore titles further with book activities that will make your family's story time experience even better. We'll be posting blog posts regularly, too, with emergent literacy tips, tricks, and recommendations, so we hope you'll visit often.