Susan’s Story:

Susan Gruber, the interim principal at Our Lady of Peace Elementary School in Columbus, OH, has been teaching since 1974 and continues to be driven by her belief that all children can flourish in school. She finds helping children learn to read especially rewarding.

Why Educators Love MaryRuth Books

Susan first learned about MaryRuth Books after her sister, who is also a teacher, spotted the books at a Reading Recovery® conference. Susan tried the books in her kindergarten classroom, starting with a few popular titles, Super Danny and Danny Takes a Walk. After seeing first-hand how the characters were able to engage her students, and motivate them to read, Susan became an avid promoter of MaryRuth Books. She confesses that they’re now her go-to titles for one-on-one reading with students.

When asked to recount a specific success story, Susan answered, “All of them!” She stated that every one of her struggling readers who’s worked with texts from MaryRuth Books, has shown major improvement. What’s even better than celebrating one great success? Having hundreds and hundreds of them!

Why Students Love MaryRuth Books

Even at first glance, MaryRuth Books are different from most books marketed for children. All of the stories feature original artwork, photography or illustration. Even though the books about Danny, Norman and Bee are fiction, using photographs represents real life to young readers and makes the stories more empathetic.

Susan attributes much of her students’ excitement with reading to the flow and natural rhythm of the books. Students enjoy the conversational language. According to Susan, “They don’t feel like they’re being forced to read.” Students at Our Lady of Peace love the Danny books so much that they want to make sure they read them all! Teachers now help students keep track of which books they’ve read in order to make sure they don’t miss a single one.

Books for Bonding

Outside of teaching, Susan is a dedicated grandmother and uses the books on her own time! “I love, love, love the lap books from MaryRuth Books. I read them with my two year old granddaughter and she loves them, too. She’s already pointing out familiar words on the pages when we read together,” asserts Susan.

Whether it’s students getting excited about reading, or a granddaughter enjoying time with her grandmother, MaryRuth Books is happy to be part of reading success stories and wonderful memories. Now it’s time to make some of your own!