Resources to Celebrate March’s National Reading Month
National Reading Month is an annual nationwide celebration in March that encourages children, families, and communities to make reading a daily habit.
To celebrate the month, we’ve put together a list of resources that will provide caregivers with the means to get young people in their household interested in reading.
Ideas for Families and Teachers
Reading is Fundamental has provided ideas for how both families and teachers can celebrate National Reading Month with the children in their care.
Caregivers are recommended to read together daily with their children as well as visit local libraries, host a family book night, explore Reading is Fundamental’s online resources, and participate in a March reading challenge.
Some ideas for teachers include:
Incorporate themed reading activities
Hold classroom challenges
Get students to visit the school library
Host author studies
Take part in daily read-alouds
Additionally, PA Promise for Children has suggestions for celebrating the month - such as holding a weekly reading challenge. Families should visit their local library and select two to three new books to read with their child. PA Promise for Children lays out steps for all four weeks of the reading challenge.
Other Resources
A number of literacy-centric organizations and publications have provided reading lists for children during National Reading Month. These include:
Reading is Fundamental: The Kids Reading App with 100 Free Books for Kids
PA Promise for Children: March Books for Preschoolers
Child Mind Institute: The Best Kids’ Books About Mental Health of 2025
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh: Books for Beginning and Emerging Readers
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh: Best Books for Babies
PEN America: Best Children’s Books 2025
Common Sense Media: 50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They’re 12
The New York Times: The Best Children’s Books of 2025
PBS for Kids has curated a series of book lists for children on such topics as gardening, weather, the moon, taking a trip, dinosaurs, and encouraging young children’s interest in science.
Similarly, PA Promise for Children has numerous book lists for children on its website that cover everything from the seasons and early learning and literacy road trips to farms, growing up, food, doing the laundry, going to the doctor’s office and a variety of animals.