Children often show up to kindergarten not knowing how to sit still at story time.
"Some children have never been exposed to books," reading specialist Karen Barham said.

"They'll hold it upside down when they get to kindergarten."

Children who are exposed to books at an early age are better prepared for school and do better later in life, Barham said. That is why she and professor Janet Towell of California State University, Stanislaus, hope to turn their pilot program into a permanent one that not only serves children in Turlock, but preschoolers in Modesto and other communities.

The Stanislaus State teacher education department launched the project two years ago, calling it ABC, for Abundant Books for Children. It pays for a book to be mailed each month to any child in Turlock between the ages of newborn and 5, at no cost to the family.

Tiffany Brittain signed up her two boys at a health and safety fair at Emanuel Medical Center. Dylan, who is 3, still receives books. Tyler got books for two years until he turned 5.

Because her mail comes at noon, Brittain said, her children got in the habit of listening to stories at meal times, not just at bedtime. "It helped encourage reading throughout the day."

Her boys also are now interested in learning Spanish, she said. A few of the books come in both English and Spanish. Other parents report that they, and their children, use the books to learn English.

Darin Jimenez said his children -- ages 3, 4, 4 and 5 -- look forward to the books. When a new book arrives, he said, "The look on their face is like, 'Wow, I got me a new book.'"

Jimenez said two of his children, in Head Start, are now "so far advanced in their class. They comprehend a lot more. Their reading is like … I can't believe it."

Jimenez said he did not use to read to his children much. Since the books started coming, his children began urging him to read more. Now, he reads to them at least 15 minutes a day. "That's a mandatory thing in our house now," he said.

A $50,000 grant of Proposition 10 cigarette tax money from the Stanislaus County Children and Families Commission paid for once-a-month books for about 1,000 children in the project's first year, plus administration and research. The county allocated another $50,000 for fiscal year 2003-04.

The ABC Project contract ends in June, and the commission will review the program again in May.

Program founders hope to get more money so they can serve more people. So far, about 17,000 books have been put in the hands of about 2,000 children.

Even so, Barham said, "We're only servicing less than 20 percent of children (in Turlock) who are eligible for this."

Plus, people in neighboring communities have expressed great interest in the program, she said. Barham and Towell are seeking sponsors to help pay for the books.

To sign up children for book deliveries, parents fill out registration forms on brochures distributed throughout the community at stores such as Target and Wal-Mart, and mail them in.

The first of its kind in California, the ABC Project is modeled after country singer Dolly Parton's Dollywood Foundation and Imagination Library. Programs with big orders, like ABC, get reduced prices through the foundation from Penguin Putnam Publishing. For example, Jane Yolen's book, "Owl Moon," retails at about $16, and ABC mails it to children for $2.33, Barham said.

The Imagination Library is what Parton calls the 72 books selected each year, Barham said.

"We are not trying to teach children to read before they go to school," Barham said. "We just want children to be comfortable with books."

Barham wrote the initial grant for the program when she was a graduate student in Towell's reading specialist credential class. At the time, she conducted a survey of Turlock kindergarten teachers, who reported that 35 percent of their students had not been read to regularly and were not prepared to learn to read.

If they go to school unprepared, "they're behind the eight ball already," Barham said.

Research conducted last month showed that in families receiving the free books, parents reported a 30 percent jump in reading, compared to families that don't receive books. Parents were reading to their children more like once a day, rather than two to three times a week, Barham said. Barham surveyed 80 parents, 40 receiving books and 40 not receiving books.

"Almost 80 percent of parents were reporting they were reading more to their children as a result of receiving the books," Barham said. "They also report their child is more interested in the books."

One parent said their child is so eager to read that the child sits down on the sidewalk by the mailbox to read when the new book arrives.

Older siblings, and parents, read the books, too.

"To me it's heading very much in the direction of improving family literacy," not just helping preschoolers, Barham said.

Beginning this month, the ABC Project is partnering with Borders Books in Turlock to provide book-sharing ideas for parents on the fourth Saturday of each month. Sessions are open to the public.

In addition, graduate students, under Towell, have developed lesson plans to go with each of the 72 books offered through the Imagination Library.