Welcome to Read at Home 2026

A letter from Brandi Bates, Citim Împreună România

Last week I talked about how I have a deep trust in the process of reading aloud, and I invited you to grow your trust in this process as we travel together through Citim Acasă 2026.
So why should the read aloud process be deeply trusted?
The first reason: it does not depend or lean upon one. The read aloud process depends upon three– the reader, the book, the listener (or listeners). And therein lies its strength, its power and its magic.

Picture book author and literacy specialist, Mem Fox, said it this way:

The flame of reading is born from the emotional sparks between the child, the book, and the adult who reads it aloud. It cannot be kindled by the book alone, nor by the child alone, nor by the adult reading aloud alone — it is the relationship that blossoms among the three that carries them all into gentle harmony.

Think about it. Would you start to teach your child to ride a bike on a unicycle or a tricycle? 3-point anchors are highly trusted by rock climbers to keep them from getting hurt if they fall.

An easel can be trusted to hold your canvas while you paint a masterpiece. Even God, whom many trust the most, calls Himself Three: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Saint Patrick of Ireland, who is celebrated March 17, picked a 3-leaf clover to show what God looks like.) There’s a verse I like very much in the Bible which basically says: one person walking down a dark alley at nightin a dangerous part of town is vulnerable, two people can chase off any bad person that comes, but a bad person won’t even bother with three people walking together. (Ecclesiastes 4:12, paraphrase mine.)
So even if 1 of the 3 is having a bad day – the book turns out to be a dud, or the child is fussy, or the adult reader’s mind is somewhere else – the read aloud experience can still be trusted.

Even if 2 are off, the read aloud process can still be trusted. It can still deliver beauty and literacy benefits.

Because it relies on 3 rather than 1, the read aloud process can be deeply trusted.

Brandi, Citim Împreună România