Free book club for toddlers, preschoolers expands. How Miami-Dade parents can sign up

When Galina Ilcheva saw a bus ad for the Children’s Trust Book Club in 2020, she thought it was too good to be true.

The ad promoted how children can receive a free book every month, in English or Spanish, up until their 5th birthday.

”I registered and I was like, it’s likely to be one of those things that I will never receive anything,” said Ilcheva. “And then I started receiving the books and I loved them.”

The book club has recently expanded after being paused last year due to high demand. The club can now accommodate up to 60,000 members, an increase from the previous 40,000. New registrations are being accepted.

“The more we can just educate parents about the importance of early literacy in the birth-to-five space, the better,” said James Haj, president and CEO of the Children’s Trust. “We talk about the K-12 space all the time, third-grade proficiency, and all that narrative. But it starts between birth and age 5.”

The program is run through The Children’s Trust, a Miami-Dade tax-funded organization focused on improving the lives of children in the county. The program sends a free developmentally appropriate book every month to registered children from birth until they turn 5 years old.

The Trust’s goal is to get kids on the road to reading and literacy before they enter kindergarten.

Ilcheva’s son David was about seven months old when he got his first free book, and now at age 4, he loves to read. Ilcheva says the program has significantly improved his literacy skills in English and Spanish, and has benefited his Bulgarian grandparents, who read with him.

“He does not want to sleep and close his eyes unless we’ve read anywhere between three to five books,” said Ilcheva.

Book Club members receive a new book every month chosen by early education professionals along with a guide for parents with activities, information and suggestions on how to share the book with a child. Parents can request books in Haitian Creole as well.

“Our survey data indicates that families are spending more time together, just cuddling, you know, over a book,” said Danielle Barreras, the trust’s associate director of community engagement.

The book club was initially only for 3 year olds but due to high demand, the club expanded to include children from birth to 5 in 2020. The program has distributed more than 1.6 million free books.

Demand was so high that registration had to be paused last year from May to September but the program has since reopened and expanded.

Olmise Delicieux is a Haitian mother to four children, and her youngest son, 2-year-old Heinz-Neil Delicieux, receives books in English and Creole. Delicieux already sees the impact the books are having on her toddler since last year.

“Last night he had a book in his hands, and he started reading by himself,” said Delicieux. “So I was in a little bit of awe when I saw him reading.”

Families can sign their kids up for the Book Club at any time.

If your child has vision or hearing loss, the Children’s Trust encourages you to use resources provided by the Miami-Dade Public Library System including free braille and audio books, and free videos of American Sign Language (ASL) retellings of children’s books by age.

“There are times that I feel like I’m preaching about the book club,” said Ilcheva. “Maybe you know, one person takes me up on the offer to register their kids and then when they receive the book they start reading and there we have it. We have another kid that will love books.”

How to sign up

You can register your child for the book club here or email bookclub@thechildrenstrust.org.