Article by Tom Markland and published in The Journal on November 18, 2025, link to article HERE.
About a dozen local families bundled up in fleece blankets and dove into stacks of storybooks on the evening of Nov. 12 during Read Aloud West Virginia’s “Cuddle-and-Read” program at Valley View Elementary School.
The event aimed to encourage parents to spend time reading with their children every day by letting each participating child pick out three free books and a handmade blanket to take home.
Casey Wilson, a volunteer and board member with Read Aloud WV, told parents that reading with their children for just 20 minutes a day can make a measurable difference in their lives.
“A child who does that for a year, five days a week will hear 2 million more words, process them, look at them and think about them,” Wilson
He said children who aren’t reading proficiently by fourth grade face lifelong challenges. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 32% of fourth graders are.
“If they’re not reading at grade level by fourth grade, they’re behind the ball for the rest of the time,” Wilson said. “They’re four more times likely to drop out of high school. If they’re not reading by eighth grade grade-level competency, they’re 30 times more likely to drop out of high school.”
The idea behind the program, pairing warm blankets with books, was designed to make reading time inviting and fun while giving kids a chance to choose the books they want to read.
“What we’re trying to say with snuggle and read is how do you create a program for your child. 20 minutes a day, 15 minutes a day,” Wilson said. “Set the environment. Have books around. Keep the environment conducive to reading.”
He also spoke about how technology has changed how children engage with language.
“Right now, kids from the ages of 8 to 12 spend four to six hours a day viewing or using screens,” Wilson said. “Teenagers spend up to nine hours a day viewing screens. Back in 1985, when this data was first started to be collected, 35% of 13-year-olds said they’d read every chance they got for a book.”
Now, that percentage, according to Wilson, is only 13 percent.
Wednesday’s “Cuddle and Read” event has been something Read Aloud has been doing since 2019, but is just now bringing back to schools post-Covid. They’re able to do the event thanks to a grant they received all those years ago from Procter and Gamble.
According to Bob Fleenor, Chapter President of Read Aloud West Virginia, they’re hoping to bring it to more schools, as they still have books and blankets left over from the original program. Read Aloud West Virginia also gives away thousands of books every academic year through other programs they host, while providing local readers to visit schools regularly.
More information about Read Aloud West Virginia is available online at readaloudwv.org