Reading To Connect

We believe that family reading deserves its own category.
Its own rules. Its own orientation.

Family reading is not a lesson.

It's a shared experience.

Connection is not accidental.

Reading can create the space.

Books are not assignments.

They are invitations.

Presence is not perfection.

It is attention.

Reading To Connect exists because somewhere along the way, family reading became another thing to optimize.

More questions. More pressure to "do it right." Less family voice.

But the most important part was never the number of pages or amount of minutes.

It was the feeling of sitting close. The pause before turning the page. The look your child gives you when something lands.

We built a way to find those moments — so connection through reading doesn't have to depend on luck or the right mood.

40% of the 16 million families who read together tonight won't feel connected during it.

You're not the only one in the room who wanted more from that.

Reading still happens. Connection doesn't have to be missing.

The App

You already know why this matters. Knowing isn't the hard part.

ENGAGE shows you how.

Pick up any book tonight. Tell ENGAGE what you're hoping for. Get a real line you can use in the moment.

How would you like to connect through this book?

From the library

Where the Wild Things Are

Ages 5–8

Sample Connection Guidance

"Before you open the book, ask your kid what they think a 'Wild Thing' might be."

Curiosity-led reading turns a book into a starting point, not a finish line.

From the library

Last Stop on Market Street

Ages 5–8

Sample Connection Guidance

"Does Nana remind your kid of anyone special in our family? Share who she reminds you of first."

When a character reminds you of someone real, the book stops being about strangers and starts being about us.

From the library

Goodnight Moon

Ages 5–8

Sample Connection Guidance

"Read the 'Goodnight' lines in a very soft, sleepy voice. Let your kid take a turn saying them too."

When you bring your voice into the room, your child stops following the pages and starts walking into them.

From the library

Soul Food Sunday

Ages 5–8

Sample Connection Guidance

"When the family gathers for their Sunday meal, share one of our own family traditions. Ask your kid what they like about it."

A book opens the door to your own family stories. ENGAGE keeps it open long enough for a real exchange.

From the library

Each Kindness

Ages 5–8

Sample Connection Guidance

"Ask your kid what they would do if a new kid like Maya came to their class."

When you ask what they're thinking, you give them the practice of naming their own inner world out loud.

From the library

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Ages 5–8

Sample Connection Guidance

"Ask your kid what other colors Harold might use if he had more crayons."

Imagination is connection. The book is the room — you decide where it goes.

See how the app works →
Or open the app directly

What changes
for families.

"I stopped reading with my son out of fear that saying the wrong thing would impact his education. No one talked about connection — the message was always literacy. I thought reading was connecting. But now I realize we could've gone deeper. And that my voice mattered."

Parent, Reading To Connect Community

"I really started thinking about reading with my kids as connection first, literacy skills second — instead of the other way around."

Cristin M., Parent, RTC Community

"My children asked me to read to them while we waited at school. I'd been struggling to get them interested for months — it always felt forced. They don't just tolerate it now. They crave it."

Parent, Reading To Connect Community

Where this leads

The app is where you begin.
There's more here when you want it.

There isn't one right way into this work. Start with what fits your life right now.

For Parents — Free Guide

4 simple things you can try tonight.

Not a program. Not a plan. Just four things — backed by six years of research into what actually creates connection during family reading.

Free. No pressure. Unsubscribe anytime.

For Professionals

When "read 20 minutes a day" isn't enough.

"When reading is treated like another assignment to get through, we shouldn't be surprised when children resist it."
— Child Psychologist specializing in reading motivation

If you work with families — in therapy, adoption, education, or family support — Reading To Connect gives you evidence-based tools you can put in families' hands today.

Therapists · Adoption agencies · Educators · Family counselors · Pediatric professionals

Free to download. Use in your practice or share with the families you work with.

Quinn Cummings

Why I built this.

I kept watching the same thing happen. Parents sitting beside their kids, pages turning, time passing — and nothing quite connecting. Not because they weren't trying. Because nobody had ever given them the actual moment.

I spent six years interviewing children's book authors, child development specialists, and families. Literacy experts were teaching the what and the why. Nobody was teaching the how. So I built it.

The app is the practical tool for tonight. The ENGAGE Method® is the fuller journey. Reading To Connect is the community holding all of it.

Reading isn't the goal. It's the gateway.

Founder, Reading To Connect™ — what started as an intimate Facebook community of parents committed to reading to connect is now a growing global movement: 1,600 community members, thousands of email subscribers, podcast listeners, and families across the globe reading differently because of it
Creator, The ENGAGE Method® — while experts teach the why, Quinn teaches the how. Called "a game-changer for families," it works at the kitchen table and adapts seamlessly for schools, agencies, and therapeutic settings
Host of featured conversations with Peter H. Reynolds, Aaron Blabey, Winsome Bingham, Darryl 'DMC' McDaniels, Rachel Renée Russell — and 100+ children's book authors
Clinically endorsed by child psychologists and speech-language pathologists
Engaged Shared Reading™ written into civic record across multiple cities and Camden County, NJ — local governments, charged with protecting families in their communities, have formally recognized family reading as a distinct practice worth preserving — and named Reading To Connect as the organization drawing that line
The app you just read about? It won Best Pitch at Bubble's AI for Good Demo Day 2025. The judges said it best: "You're potentially improving the way parents read to their children — in a way they may not have realized was important." Watch the moment →

The Show

The Reading To Connect Show.

Children's book authors, educators, and child development experts in honest conversation about what stories actually do inside families. Start anywhere.

Tap to unmute

Reading To Connect · The Show January 18

When Family Reading Feels Like a Struggle 📚💕

You're not alone. And it can feel different.

▶ Listen ≡ Transcript

The show lives on Substack. Subscribe to get new episodes directly — plus written editions and bonus conversations.

Subscribe on Substack →

Two ways in.

Feeling far from reading time?

A free listening room, just for you

8 short audio episodes. Start with the one that sounds like you.

Enter the Listening Room

Ready to begin tonight?

The app. Your next book. Tonight.

Find your next book. Get the guidance that opens the moment. Free to start.

Reading happens. Connection doesn't. Here's what it can feel like instead.

We believe that family reading deserves its own category.
Its own rules. Its own orientation.

You already know why this matters. Knowing isn't the hard part.

What changes
for families.

The app is where you begin.
There's more here when you want it.

4 simple things you can try tonight.

When "read 20 minutes a day" isn't enough.

Why I built this.

The Reading To Connect Show.

When Family Reading Feels Like a Struggle 📚💕

For the nights you want to go deeper.

Reading happens. Connection doesn't. Here's what it can feel like instead.

We believe that family reading deserves its own category.Its own rules. Its own orientation.

Stay close to this.

You already know why this matters. Knowing isn't the hard part.

What changesfor families.

The app is where you begin.There's more here when you want it.

4 simple things you can try tonight.

When "read 20 minutes a day" isn't enough.

Why I built this.

The Reading To Connect Show.

When Family Reading Feels Like a Struggle 📚💕

For the nights you want to go deeper.

We believe that family reading deserves its own category.
Its own rules. Its own orientation.

What changes
for families.

The app is where you begin.
There's more here when you want it.