Over 100,000 books given to children at Festival of Tales

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - The Southwest Human Development Center aims to make sure every child is learning to read before they enter kindergarten.

And the organization doesn't care what it takes, it just wants children to read.

"Literacy, getting books into the hands of those kids, and reading to kids every day is super important to families. We want to make sure that every family hears that message and gets a strong outcome for their children," said David Reno, the spokesperson of Southwest Human Development Center.

"In low income neighborhoods, two out of every three kids don't own a single book so we give away over 5,000 books which really makes a huge difference for those kids both getting into kindergarten as well as their long term outcomes for reading at grade level and high school graduation," Reno said.

The Center joins forces with Paradise Valley Community College twice a year, gathering on campus for the Festival of Tales, giving away a 100,000 books a year.

"Well, our daughter just turned two and she loves books. She's got dozen and dozens of them. We just want to get hero started young with learning and being engaged," said Wayne Clug, a father.

Engagement, education and books are all keys to success that unlock not only the imagination, but the unthinkable.