"We always say parents are their child’s first and best teacher. We’re just here to support what they already know."
– Tabitha Blackwell, Executive Director, Book Harvest Durham
Discretionary Grant - Durham, NC (December 2025) — When five-year-old Yuriko opened a blue box on her family’s doorstep, her eyes lit up. Inside were new books — stories waiting to be explored, characters ready to become friends. She picked one up, turning the pages carefully. “If some words you don’t know,” she said, “you can learn those words so you can be a better reader. If you’re a better reader, you can read all of the books that there is in the world. I’ll read a thousand books!”
For Yuriko and hundreds of children like her, those blue boxes mean far more than stories — they represent connection, confidence and a foundation for lifelong learning. Through Book Babies, a flagship program of Book Harvest, based in Durham, North Carolina, families receive not just free books but trusted guidance, encouragement and joy. With support from a Walters Family Foundation grant, the program reached 109 families this year, providing more than 2,180 new, culturally responsive books and one-on-one literacy coaching to ensure that every child begins school ready to thrive.
“Book Babies starts at the very beginning of a parent’s journey,” said Tabitha Blackwell, Executive Director of Book Harvest Durham. “We meet families when their babies are 16 weeks old or younger, and we stay with them through kindergarten. It’s a relationship that grows alongside the child.”
Each family is paired with a literacy coach who visits quarterly, modeling how talking, singing and reading can be woven into everyday life. These visits aren’t just lessons, they’re conversations filled with laughter, reassurance and real connection. “Sometimes all a parent needs to hear is, ‘You’re doing a great job,’” Blackwell said. “We see parents grow in confidence, realizing they already have what their child needs most: attention, curiosity and love.”
Inclusivity is at the heart of that experience. Book Harvest’s collection celebrates cultural diversity, offering bilingual and multilingual books so families can see their stories reflected back to them. “We talk about books as mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors,” Blackwell explained. “Every child deserves to see themselves in the stories they read.”
As children grow, Book Babies helps parents navigate new milestones: pre-K enrollment, kindergarten orientation and even school lotteries. The journey ends with a joyful graduation: tiny caps and gowns, proud parents and, sometimes, a few tears. “For some families, this is the first graduation they’ve ever attended,” Tabitha said. “It’s a celebration of everything they’ve built together.”
What began as a small local pilot has steadily grown into a model of family-centered literacy support. Book Babies now serves hundreds of families and is on track to reach more than 500 in Durham and Forsyth Counties by 2026. That growth, Blackwell said, has been possible thanks to partners who believe in deep, sustained impact. “The only way we’ve been able to grow to that degree is through support from folks like the Walters family,” she said. “It’s great to have funders who are really investing in the relationship of community. That’s something I’m so grateful for, and you don’t find that all the time.”
The program is expanding and impacting more children, and that impact can be felt by children in the smallest moments -- a child turning a page, a parent reading aloud, a family discovering new worlds together. For children like Yuriko, one book leads to another, and another still. Their shelves keep filling, their words keep growing and with every story they read, their world opens just a little wider.
Discretionary grants are by invitation only.