Real Men Read Portal
Real Men Read
Inspiring a love of reading, one classroom at a time.
Real Men Read is a kindergarten literacy program that helps build strong reading skills and home libraries for every MCCSC kindergartener.
Our volunteers—community members we call MENtors—are passionate about reading and making a difference for young learners. Each MENtor is paired with a kindergarten classroom and visits five times throughout the school year (October, November, February, March, and April). Volunteers read a pre-selected book, and after each visit, every child receives their own copy to take home and add to their library.
How to Get Involved
- MENtors must complete a background check before volunteering.
- Books for this year are listed below, along with links to recorded readings, vocabulary, and activities families can enjoy together.
- Research shows that reading at home is one of the most effective ways to build literacy skills—and this program helps make that possible.
Support Real Men Read
Your gift helps put books in the hands of our youngest readers:
- $25 supports one student.
- $75 supports an entire classroom for a month.
- $300 supports a classroom for all five months.
Click the Donate button to give today. Under Related Gift Information, please note that your donation is “For Real Men Read.” Thank you for helping us share the joy of reading with every kindergartener!
Community volunteers bring books—and a love of reading—into every MCCSC kindergarten classroom. Each visit puts a new book in every child’s hands and helps build lifelong readers.
Thank you to our 2025-2026 program sponsors:
October - The Lion and the Mouse - El léon y el ratón
Adaptación/Adaptation: Darice Bailer
A hungry lion wants to eat this little mouse, and the mouse has to find a way to stop him. Bilingual versions of everyone's favorite fairy tales, updated and adorned with simple, lively illustrations.
November - If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Written by: Laura Joffe Numeroff
When a generous boy shares a cookie with a hungry mouse, it is the beginning of a chain of events that keeps the boy busy all day long, and might keep him busy for days to come. If you give a mouse a cookie, after all, he's bound to ask for a glass of milk, for which he'll certainly need a straw, not to mention a napkin, and a mirror to check for a milk mustache, which will only lead to him noticing that he needs a haircut. This imaginary mouse has the kind of needs a child might have; he needs a nap with a soft pillow, and he needs his drawing hung up on the refrigerator. By the end of a day with such a mouse, a boy-hero might have an idea what it's like to be a Mommy!
With over a million copies sold, this humorous story is a favorite of many children. Children can identify with both the mouse and the boy. They may recognize the wants and needs of this little mouse, and realize that they are capable of the love and patience with which the boy care-giver meets the mouse's needs. Teachers like it too, as it introduces the important concepts of sequencing and cause and effect. Young readers will enjoy the challenge of recalling the sequence of events. Older readers may use this simple, engaging story to anchor their understanding of cause and effect, then apply their understanding to subjects as advanced as the causes of the American Revolution.
February - Pierre the Penguin: A True Story
Written by: Jean Marzollo
This heartwarming true story is skillfully told in rhyming text by noted I SPY author Jean Marzollo, and the pictures on every page help show how creativity and ingenuity saved Pierre's life. When Pierre, an African penguin living at the California Academy of Sciences, begins to lose his feathers, the zookeepers don't know how to help him, and Pam Schaller, a senior aquatic biologist, worries that Pierre's bald spots will be dangerous to his health.
Not only does Pierre become cold and afraid to swim, but the other penguins start to ignore him. Pam and the other biologists try everything they can think of to help Pierre, but heaters and medications just don't help. Finally, Pam comes up with an imaginative solution: She designs a neoprene wetsuit that keeps Pierre warm when swimming. The suit works so well, he recovers fully, and his feathers eventually start to grow back.
March - Sky Color
Written by: Peter H. Reynolds
The sky's no limit as the author-illustrator winds up his Creatrilogy with a whimsical tale about seeing the world a new way. Marisol loves to paint. So when her teacher asks her to help make a mural for the school library, she can't wait to begin! But how can Marisol make a sky without the missing blue paint? After gazing out the bus window and watching from her porch as day turns into night, she closes her eyes and starts to dream. . . .
From the award-winning Peter H. Reynolds comes a gentle, playful reminder that if we keep our hearts open and look beyond the expected, creative inspiration will come.
April - Splat the Cat Takes the Cake
Written by: Amy Hsu Lin
Based on the Creation of: Rob Scotton
When Splat's family's television breaks in an unfortunate cat-astrophe, Splat vows to win a new TV by entering a cake-baking competition. Splat's first attempt at cake baking is disastrous, but his second try is a winner. Splat creates a cake in the shape of his favorite TV superhero and saves the day.
The witty text, complemented by Rob Scotton's hilarious pictures, races along so delightfully that kids may not even realize how easy it is to read until they've finished it at breakneck speed.
