Billie the Brain Learns to Read

Learn how the brain is "wired" for reading from the perspective of our superstar friend, Billie the Brain (an introduction to Billie was published in 2023). Along the way, see the benefits of families reading together, from cuddly feelings and bonding in infancy, to language development, to learning letters, letter and word sounds, imagination and meaning. The main text is simple and rhyming, with anatomically accurate illustrations and fun and engaging facts anchored in neuroscience. Written by a pediatrician and pioneering expert in early literacy and brain development, this book is perfect to for families, educators and children to share and learn, including in STEM curricula.

Dr. John S. Hutton is an author whose work is inspired by experiences as a parent and grandparent, pediatrician, researcher and children's bookstore owner. His dad was a doctor, his mom a writer; he strives to honor both. He is among the world's leading experts in quantifying relationships between home reading and digital media ("screen time") environments on brain structure and function in preschool-age children using MRI, featured extensively in academic and news outlets. He works closely with reading advocacy groups on local and national levels, with a shared mission to reduce inequities in Gabriella Vagnoli is a Brazilian-Italian illustrator living in Seattle, WA. After obtaining a BFA in illustration from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in 2019, she has illustrated several chapter and picture books, including a 2022 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Silver Award recipient.