Some images carry two messages. Depending on your context, this Speed Bump comic by Dave Coverly could be portraying a “bad dad” or a “good dad.” If dad is in the home but doesn’t have or make time for bedtime stories with his child he definitely has missed the mark. Dads reading to their children can be one of the most enriching of times for a child and his or her father. If dad doesn’t have custody of his child and this is a means to connect despite circumstances that keep them apart video or audio recordings of him reading bedtime stories for his child is right on the money.

In this age of technological miracles and wonders we sometimes lose sight of the power of stories. What is an iPOD but a repository of stories in an electronic and musical format. In pursuit of the new and great it is easy to dismiss the small and the common like, for example, reading together.

Albert Einstein is attributed with saying, “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.“ Whether you are in a rocking chair with an infant who only understands the warmth of your touch and the rhythm of your voice, or on a couch with a teen who is taken aback by Flannery O’Connor’s vivid portrayal of “grace (that) must wound before it can heal,” or engaging your child with stories via the phone or their iPOD reading together engages us in ways that other medium do not.

That is the genius behind the FRED (Fathers Reading Every Day) program. FRED is designed to encourage fathers to read with their children. "It's a simple program with profound results," says Stephen Green, who has headed up the program across Texas. Fathers who participate in the program frequently report a closer relationship with their children. A dad who participated in last year’s program wrote, “(Participating in FRED) helped us change our mindset about what is important in our children’s lives. (It) helped us to see that there really is time in the day to spend quality time with our kids.”

Unless you have done it, it is difficult to imagine the impact of setting aside a little time every day to read with your child. Another participant from last year wrote, “It’s given us a new ritual that enriches our lives as a family.” More than 70% of the dads who completed surveys after participating in the FRED program reported that it “improved my relationship with my child.”

It is important for moms to read and be involved with their kids, but because fewer dads than moms regularly read with their children, this program focuses specifically on dads or father figures. One grandfather wrote, "FRED enabled me to sit and read to my granddaughter and spend more quality time with her." Single moms are free to participate, of course, but the primary focus is on dads and their children. A national telephone poll commissioned by the National Center for Fathering, discovered that 40.2% of fathers never read to their children. Reading, which is consistently linked with better school performance, is an activity that dads can engage in with their children at any age, fathers and teens are encouraged to participate as well.

Participation in the FRED program is easy. Fathers, or father figures, make the intentional goal of reading with their children on a daily basis during the month of November. If that sounds impossible with your current schedule, do what you can. Obviously the benefit is greater if you are physically present but if that is an impossibility, I encourage you to explore ways to read with your child by phone. Particpants who complete the program surveys and submit a reading log are entered into a drawing to receive a gift certificate to a local book store or a book to read with their children.

Some of the greatest ideas take but a small amount of consistent effort. Reading daily with your children is a small investment that yields a great return.