Hi, this is Libby Owens, and you're listening to the award-winning podcast, Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.

I'm also the host of Moms Don't Have Time to Lose Weight, and I'm the editor of the anthology,

which you should run out and buy called Moms Don't Have Time to, a quarantine anthology.

All proceeds of that book go to COVID-19 vaccine research.

And I'm the editor-in-chief of Moms Don't Have Time to Write a new publication on Medium.

And we're accepting submissions, so please send your personal essays there.

And if all that isn't enough, you can follow me on Instagram at Zibby Owens.

And my website is Zibby Owens.com.

Okay, now back to this amazing podcast.

Today's episode has been sponsored by Books for Kids. Kids deserve a little storytime magic and a lot of laughter on their

road to literacy. Books for Kids is dedicated to ensuring that all children have the resources they need

to fall in love with reading and meet kindergarten ready. You can visit Books for Kids

at Books for Kids.org. Books for Kids promotes literacy among preschool-age children in

under-resourced communities by creating libraries in underserved preschools and family homeless shelters

and implementing literary programs in order to help children develop the critical early literacy

and social

emotional skills they need.

The years before age five, when a child's brain develops and a scarcity of books during those

years has really devastating consequences.

By the age of four, children without books are already behind their peers, which means

that intervening before their development trajectory is set is critical.

If they're still behind by third grade, they're at risk of failing to graduate from high school. Reading increases

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