Ethan & Choco's Book Club

Striving to make access to books and reading a core part of the care that kids receive in the hospital, with the premise that literacy support for children fighting cancer and other life-altering conditions can help promote cognitive health and social connections that are part of thriving through treatment and beyond

Mission

The goal of the Ethan & Choco’s Book Club (ECBC) is to make access to books and reading a core part of the care that kids receive in the hospital. Click here to check out Ethan’s ECBC launching video!  Three components define the vision for ECBC:

  1. To build high-quality lending and gifting libraries at CHOC Children’s Hospital, including a main comprehensive lending library; mobile book carts (libraries on wheels) that travel to patient rooms (especially a gifting library cart for patients in isolation who can’t borrow books or be read to due to infectious disease protocol); book bags that are gifted to new cancer diagnoses with books curated by the gender and age of the child; and book nooks in common spaces where patients spend time (e.g., Oncology floor lobby, Outpatient Infusion Center).  Libraries will be designed with features that inspire reading, such as utilizing thematic, open-faced shelving; comfortable seating; and high-quality mainstream and therapeutic literature.
  2. To implement high-quality read-aloud programming in patient rooms and common spaces so that all patients have the opportunity to benefit from the effects of daily reading aloud during their hospital stay. Volunteers will be trained on how to select quality literature as well as how to read aloud to optimize engagement, dialogue, good thinking, and literacy skills.
  3. To create additional programming that uses reading-based experiences to connect kids in the hospital to other kids, other interest areas, and the outside world. Examples of such programs include “Reading in the Kitchen” (group read alouds that inspire cooking),  “Let’s Read & Create” (group read alouds that inspire art), and ECBC Across the Curriculum (read aloud events that inspire thinking in academic areas such as math and science).

MLP-Ethan&ChocoIconYellow-FINALBy promoting literacy skills, critical thinking through conversations around books, and opportunities for social connections, ECBC aims to help every child to thrive during treatment and beyond.

 

Click here to read about Ethan’s story underlying the founding of ECBC!

Ethan & Choco’s Book Club is a public benefit, non-profit corporation, EIN83-2934289. 501c3 status pending.