Abstract
Book giveaway programs provide free books to families with infants to encourage caregivers to begin reading to their children during infancy. This meta-analysis of 44 studies retrieved from 43 articles tests the effects of three major book giveaway programs: Bookstart (n = 11), Reach Out and Read (n = 18), and Imagination Library (n = 15). Effect sizes were aggregated within two domains—home literacy environment and literacy-related behavior and skills—before being averaged across studies. The findings corroborate the assumption that book giveaway programs promote children’s home literacy environment (d = 0.31, 95% CI [0.23, 0.38], k = 30), which subsequently results in more interest in reading and children scoring higher on measures of literacy-related skills prior to and during the early years of school (d = 0.29, 95% CI [0.23, 0.35], k = 23).
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 349-375 |
Number of pages | 27 |
Journal | Review of Educational Research |
Volume | 90 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 13 May 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2020 |
Funding
This research was supported by a Spinoza award from The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) to Marinus H. van IJzendoorn and a grant to investigate effects of Bookstart from the Dutch Reading Foundation (Stichting Lezen) to Adriana G. Bus.
Keywords
- book giveaway programs
- Bookstart
- Imagination Library
- meta-analysis
- Reach Out and Read