Why I Do This (Literacy Innovation) Work

 Why I Do This (Literacy Innovation) Work

By: Kristi Cruise

If we’ve just met, you might know me as the woman behind the books that flip, a.k.a. the "book lady," the literacy activator, innovator, the one with the golden Keys. Maybe you saw me on the news once a million years ago. Perhaps you’ve heard about Living Libraries, a reading yoga that helps kids focus on literacy, or my first literacy rodeo known as Promising Pages. Or maybe you’ve stumbled here by divine accident.

Whatever the case is, I want you to know something:
This work more than a brand. It’s my life’s breath.

I don’t do this because I love books (though I do).
I don’t do it just for the kids (though they’re everything).
I do it because I believe, in the depths of my being, that a better world is possible—
and I’ve seen how story can be the spark.

I’ve seen what happens when a child who’s never loved reading opens one of our books and smiles.
I’ve felt the stillness when a class tries a LiYo Literacy Yoga Fusion™pose and suddenly calms to an ocean-deep calm.

I’ve cried with parents who watched their child connect—really connect to reading and therefore themselves and the world—for the first time. I've been with teachers when their students meet an author who looked just like them...

This is a movement.

A ripple.

A prayer turned into action.

I’m not here to play small or keep comfortable. I am not here to be quite but to turn up the volume even more. I've been through too much in my life to stand by or coast. I've been from hell to high water more times than I can count and I will use everything I have and everything I've learned and everything I am for good. 

I’m here to make books move and ripple out.
To flip what we thought was possible for children's literacy.
To help the next generation access their own limitless libraries inside.

I believe reading can be a full-body, full-soul experience. 

I've seen it. 

I've been it. 

I teach it.

I believe that diverse books and characters can bring healing.
I believe that joy is revolutionary.
And I believe every child—every child—deserves to feel powerful in their own story.

So yes, I’ve written eleven books.
Yes, I’ve founded organizations.
Yes, I’ve walked away from the “sure thing” to chase something more meaningful again and again.

But none of that matters without this: I’m Kristi Cruise, and I’m here to help children fall in love with reading, themselves, and the world they’ll someday lead.

Thank you, dear reader, for being a part of this journey. 

Let’s do this—together. Readers become leaders. 

#BoldFaith #RippleMaker #LivingLibraries #AuthorLife

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