Editor’s Note: United Through Reading is an organization providing recording capabilities for military parents to make bedtime story videos their children can see and hear during deployment and other separations. Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, military members face more deployments and extended absences from their families. Although some of the in-person recording events described in this story are temporarily unavailable due to the pandemic, United Through Reading offers a free app that provides the organization’s services remotely.
Molly Haskin, a United Through Reading program director, says this is the perfect time to connect through reading together and to use the app. She says, “From deployed service members who can read to keep connected over the miles of separation, to the recently-activated National Guard and Reserve soldiers who are providing services throughout the country, and even service members who are suddenly teleworking and trying to help keep their child’s academic momentum moving, recorded stories are the ideal way to support our military children.”
Riley Stoffel was only fourteen days old when her father, Shawn Stoffel, deployed to Afghanistan with the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division. She didn’t see him again until she was ten months old. On the night he returned, Hannah Stoffel woke her little daughter after midnight to meet Shawn and the other soldiers arriving at the post gymnasium on Fort Drum, New York, in the wee hours of the morning.
Hannah feared Riley would cling tightly to her when she met the stranger who was her daddy, but that was not the case. Instead, when Shawn spoke to Riley and reached out to her, she lunged straight into his arms. Before he left, Shawn had made video recordings of bedtime stories for Riley. Even while he was gone, she could see and hear her father reading Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney and Gossie and Gertie by Olivier Dunrea each night.
“She went straight to him,” says Hannah. “I have always credited the story time, because other than that she didn’t really know who her dad was.”
After the Vietnam War, Betty Mohlenbrock’s experience was vastly different when her navy husband returned to a daughter who barely knew him. As a reading specialist, Betty knew the importance of early literacy, and she also believed in the power of stories to connect. Based on her experience and her expertise, Betty founded United Through Reading in 1989 to provide a way for military service members to create video recordings of bedtime stories. She knew the stories would provide a connection, a way for children to see and hear their absent parents. United Through Reading’s mission is to help military families like Hannah’s bond through the experience of reading aloud, even when they are physically separated.
United Through Reading estimates military families have missed out on forty million bedtime stories because of deployment, temporary duty assignments, and other duties that take service members away from their families in the evening, even when they are home.
“Being able to read together eases the stress of separation for the service member, spouse, and child, builds family bonds and resiliency, cultivates a love for reading for the military child, encourages literacy and language skills, and makes homecomings easier,” says Jessica Hall, director of communications and marketing at United Through Reading.
Service members can make video recordings of favorite stories for their children at United Through Reading Story Station locations and events around the world and remotely through the United Through Reading app.
At a Story Station event at Fort Polk, Louisiana, dozens of army parents linger over the books available for their recordings, sometimes calling or texting spouses to ask what books are already on the shelves at home. Before choosing one to record, some soldiers read multiple books all the way through to find just the right story, one they know their children will love. Others look up book summaries and reviews online before making selections. United Through Reading volunteers are available to assist with book choices. They ask about the soldiers’ families, their kids’ ages, and interests, sharing in the care and attention given to choosing the books military children will hear over and over during a parent’s absence. Story recordings are provided on DVD or digital files, ready to play any time a story is needed.
In the recording booth provided, parents include sound effects, character voices, and loving comments to their children at the end.
I love you, sweetheart. I can’t wait to see you soon. Stay in bed. Sleep tight.
Words and scenes like these happen over and over at Story Stations all over the world as United Through Reading makes recording facilities available in various ways. Some Story Stations are embedded in military units or permanently established at libraries, schools, or with program partners. A Mobile Story Station van, complete with library and recording studio is available in the San Diego, California, area. Story Stations on Demand, like the one at Fort Polk, are pop-up events that can be tailored to the needs of almost any location or military community.
When visiting a Story Station is not possible, the United Through Reading app provides access to the same services, including requests for books to be mailed to children at home.
United Through Reading provides a selection of books, or parents can read a book from their own shelves. The book list for United Through Reading is chosen by The American Academy of Pediatrics for high-interest content, pictures, and stories that resonate with military children. Book offerings are full of bright and colorful imagery as well as tales of adventure, bravery, and courage. Some selections center around a variety of holidays a service member may miss while deployed.
Their efforts are putting a dent in the number of missed bedtime stories. The 2018 United Through Reading annual report noted they had captured more than twelve million stories from over two hundred recording sites around the world. All of these services to military families are provided free of charge. Funding comes from corporate sponsors, including Reader’s Digest Foundation, BAE Systems, USAA, MLB Player’s Trust, and Dollar General Literacy Foundation, as well as donations from caring individuals, and hundreds of hours of volunteer effort.
When Jason Byers deployed in 2010 and again in 2013 he was able to create videos of himself reading aloud and mail the videos and books home to his four children.
“The kids loved it so much that they memorized the books so they could read alongside their dad,” says his wife Audrey Byers. “From that, they really enjoyed seeing what else they could memorize.” A home educator, Audrey has seen her children’s skills, such as memorization and comprehension, increase as a result of Jason’s recordings of the kids’ treasured books.
United Through Reading’s Jessica Hall emphasizes that even though children and parents may communicate by video calls while apart, there is a benefit to having recorded stories for times when schedules and time zone differences get in the way. Sometimes a child wants or needs to see a parent in a moment when the parent is simply not available.
Recorded stories are available anytime and can be played over and over, repetition that builds reading fluency and helps children connect with book characters. Most importantly, the repetition strengthens the bond between reader and listener, a connection with value beyond measure for military kids separated from their active-duty parent.
Hannah Stoffel remembers Riley listening to stories via laptop in her highchair at mealtimes or during playtime. The recordings of Shawn, adding funny voices and quacking alongside duck duo Gossie and Gertie were part of Riley’s daily life, providing laughter, love, familiarity, and most of all the sight and sound of Daddy.
The impact of United Through Reading has been recognized and honored by the Library of Congress Literacy Awards and by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Yet it is the personal impact that remains the heart and soul of the organization, says United Through Reading’s senior program manager Molly Haskin.
“Every day in military homes around the world, United Through Reading provides the ability for a service member, spouse, and military child to participate in the simple, yet comforting routine of reading together,” says Molly. “For just a few minutes, the joy of sharing a story helps bridge the distance and gives the child the reassurance that they still have that connection with the service member they love.”
The words, artwork, silly character voices, repeating plot lines, gestures, enunciations, all caught on video connect children with parents whose duty takes them away from home, sometimes for weeks or months. The recordings also give the spouse at home a brief reprieve from long days of solo parenting. The joy of sharing stories bridges the distance and provides reassurance that the family and service member are still connected, even when they are apart.
United Through Reading
Web: UnitedThroughReading.org
Facebook: @UnitedThroughReading
Twitter: @UTR4Military
Instagram: @UTR4Military
LinkedIn: /company/United-Through-Reading
Photos courtesy of United Through Reading.
Claire Wood is a proud military spouse, writer, and mom. She is the cohost of the Advice Not Given podcast. She loves libraries and hosting friends in her home.
This article was first published April 2020.