First Lady Crissy Haslam Launches the Read20 Family Book Club

Club to encourage Tennessee families to read together for 20 minutes each day

NASHVILLE – Tennessee First Lady Crissy Haslam today launched the Read20 Family Book Club to promote early literacy and parental engagement in their children’s academic lives.

To encourage families to read 20 minutes each day this summer, a book will be featured as the “Book of the Month” on the First Lady’s Read20 Family Book Club website, www.tn.gov/read20, where children and families of all ages can participate and access fun, family engagement ideas, reading activities and tips. 

“I am very excited to launch the Read20 Family Book Club,” Haslam said.  “Families reading together build a foundation for strong relationships and academic success for our Tennessee students.”Haslam selected Frindle by Andrew Clements as the featured June’s “Book of the Month.” Frindle is a story about a boy named Nicholas who encounters all kinds of adventures after creating a new name for the pen: “frindle.”

“I think children and families will enjoy the imagination and creativity of the main character in Frindle,” Haslam said. “It’s an exciting narrative that I hope will create a great opportunity for families to spend quality time with books this summer.”

Haslam will travel the state during the summer to promote this program, including visits to hometown baseball games in June.

Haslam plans to partner with various non-profit and business groups including First Book, a literacy organization who work to connect communities with book publishers to provide access to new books for children in need, to help deliver the Read20 Book Club books to Tennessee families across the state.

To learn more about the First Lady’s Read20 Family Book Club, visit www.tn.gov/read20 or your local public library.