‘Read to Me’ Babies: Where are they now?

Our child stars filmed for the Reading With Babies videos are now teens.

Do you remember crawling baby girls whose mothers spoke to them in Russian? Or the scene in which a baby gives her mother an appreciative kiss on her mouth followed by an accidental face slap?

Lily Womack is that wonderful child. She is now a freshman in the rigorous, competitive and excellent Bronx High School of Science. I have been lucky enough to have enjoyed Lily’s company. Here is a recent photo of Lily with her mother Valeria.

Thank you Lily and parents Valeria and Jack, for showing us how reading happens with very young children.

We filmed Austin when he was a 23-month-old toddler. He was sitting in a purple chair, and enthusiastically reading I Like It When by Mary Murphy with his mother Ruth. When he had enough, he closed book with an emphatic ‘The End.’

And now? Austin, 15 ½, is in 10th grade at Riverdale Country School. THANK you Austin for being such an enthusiastic baby reader who has clearly demonstrated the power of sharing books with his family. Everyone wins.

And Tate? He missed the cut for the video because he was born after we stopped filming. But he was a featured ‘reader’ on our brochures. He’s in the center column reading ‘Hug Hug!’

Now look! He’s now 8 years old, and in 3^rd grade in Oak Park, IL. He’s not reading ‘Hug Hug!’ anymore but his mom says he loves reading non-fiction.

Thank you Tate, Deanna and Joel for being part of our lives.

And thank you to all the families who have stayed in touch, it’s a joy to see these baby readers thrive in their later years.