September 9 is International Literacy Day. Help children become lifelong readers by inspiring them to read at home and school. Research from Scholastic shows that when kids have a large home library, they are more likely to be read books for pleasure 5–7 days a week. The research also provides actionable takeaways any family can embrace to inspire a culture of reading at home, including:

• 51% of kids in the U.S. say teachers and school librarians
• 45% of kids in the U.K report the library
• 72% and 82% of kids in Australia and India, respectively, look to their parents
• 50% of kids in Canada get ideas from friends, siblings or cousins.

• Find books that make kids laugh: “Make me laugh” is the #1 quality kids ages 6–17 look for when choosing books to read for fun (42% U.S., 63% U.K., 61% Australia, 62%, India, and 46% Canada).
• Set aside time to read aloud together—and keep it going as a child gets older: An overwhelming majority of children ages 6–17 reported they love (or loved) read aloud time at home and the top reason was “it’s a special time with my parent,” yet many parents stop reading aloud at age six.