We want to share the stories of your success with Nebraska Growing Readers books! Check here to read more about what's happening with NGR around the state.
NGR, an initiative of the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, has partnered with Schuyler and other communities like it to provide books in areas where they are harder to find or to populations who benefit from access to free books.
Since its beginning, NGR has made creating stories that speak to the diverse landscapes, the experiences, the languages, and the cultures of Nebraska a central part of its mission. And now, NGR is not only encouraging such local content, it is working with writer’s in a series of workshops to create Nebraska-related books. Kim has lived in Schuyler for over 50 years and is writing a book about the sweet corn farming that has been a part of her family for 21 years.
Nebraska Growing Readers works with Jeter and his mother to publish a book on his rare condition.
Literacy is a ritual in the Mohmand household. Fariha Mohmand is an Afghan refugee who was an instructor for company management instruction and a university professor. She moved here to live with her “American Family,” a university professor named David Wilson, who has always given her children books. She says, “literacy is the door to teaching my kids the importance of education.” That’s why when she saw Nebraska Growing Readers offer to send her son Yousof free books as he prepared to enter kindergarten in the fall, she jumped at the opportunity.
Renae Norenberg, who has owned and operated Nae’s Away from Home childcare in Fremont since 1990, says, “my kids just get ecstatic. They watch for the mail. It’s like they know when those books are going to be coming. They want to open the door to see if they have a little box on the porch. We can’t open them fast enough.” Norenberg is talking about the free boxes of NGR books that are sent to early childhood educators who are registered with the program.
Janelle Nissen has been involved with Nebraska Growing Readers since it began in 2023 when Laura Cady began working closely with Indian Hill as a test site for writing books and family engagement. Thanks to Nissen and Cady, it has since been a forerunner in hosting literacy events for the program. As Nissen puts it, “NGR hits our mission of that two-generational home-to-school connection as well as getting books in the home.” What Nissen is doing is building a literacy community.
Both Kim Chase and Amy Standley agree on a very specific detail about Nebraska Growing Readers (NGR) books: they fit well in small hands. While this may seem minor, it means that the children these early childhood professionals work with are holding the books, looking at the colorful pictures, identifying what they see; such moments are the early literacy moments NGR strives for.
The Nebraska Growing Readers (NGR) program has aimed primarily at providing free books for licensed childcare providers who can share them with their families, but the books have also been distributed to other organizations where children and families can access them. Liam Al-Hindi said he learned of the program in December of 2023 when his Director showed him the books, which they thought could be useful for the adults in ESL classes to use. The books were made available in the Metro library and, in February, Al-Hindi and other instructors began handing books out to their students. He says that his students take books home to read to their children and to use in practicing their study of English.
