United Through Reading and Elva Resa Publishing are partnering together to to ensure service members with limited or no access to physical books can still remain connected to their families through the United Through Reading App and digital copies of Elva Resa books.
For 30 years United Through Reading has helped connect over 2.4 million military family members through the power of shared storytime. By visiting a UTR Story Station, service members are video recorded reading a book to a child they love. In 2019, UTR released a new free and secure app to bring story stations to the pockets of service members around the world.
Current restrictions related to COVID-19 prevent military members in some locations from accessing physical books at one of our hundreds of Story Stations or receiving physical books by mail. Elva Resa Publishing, which specializes in books for military families, has provided PDFs of three of their children’s books for service members to download and read via the United Through Reading App. Additionally, Elva Resa donated 150 paperback books to United Through Reading for the service members’ children, so the children can hold the book and read along with their beloved service member, encouraging reading skills while maintaining important family connections.
Elva Resa Publishing is an award-winning independent publishing company that has been creating books and resources for and about the military community for more than twenty years. Most of Elva Resa’s writers and team members are military family members with first-hand understanding of the challenges of military life. Elva Resa partners with organizations around the world to deliver helpful resources to military families through partner programs and its online store, MilitaryFamilyBooks.com. The company’s mission is to make a positive difference in people’s lives. Visit ElvaResa.com to learn more.
The books donated by Elva Resa are Cedric and the Dragon by Elizabeth Raum, Military Life: Stories and Poems for Children by multiple authors, and The Wishing Tree by Mary Redman.
How to use these books:
- Use the order form below to request the PDF to be sent to you and the copy of the book be sent to the child(ren) you made the recording for.
- Check your email, print out or open the PDF on another device so that you can read it while you record.
- Open the UTR app and record the story for the child(ren) in your life.
To request your PDF and copy of the corresponding book, please fill out the following form: