Laura is the chairperson and founder of Basic Reads, and the proud mother of three children, ages three to six. She taught third and fourth grades for three years in Aurora, Colorado before choosing to stay home full time with her children. She currently teaches classes on parenting in addition to substitute teaching for Douglas County and Cherry Creek Schools. In her spare time, Laura enjoys swimming, hiking and reading (of course). Her favorite children’s book is “Blue Hat, Green Hat” by Sandra Boynton.

Jeff is a cardiologist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was introduced to child literacy by helping his younger siblings learn to read. He maintains this passion by serving as Vice President of Basic Reads as well as by reading to his newborn son, Dylan. Jeff's favorite children’s book is "The Amazing Bone" by William Steig (actually, he loves all William Steig books).

For six years, Misty Eddy has served as the Personal Manager of Kids Nite Out across America (www.kidsniteout.org) where she is responsible for keeping current with best business practices regarding employment and compliance issues. She is going on her eighth year as a Commercial Print Model for Maximum Talent of Denver (www.maximumtalentofdenver.com) which allows her stay at home and take care of the two loves of her life… her children: Holland (six years old) and Austin (four). Misty and her husband of fifteen years enjoy the simple pleasures in life, such as hiking, ATV riding, cabin life in Wyoming and nature. She is a member of another non-profit organization, the Aurora Police's Spouses Association. She loves the tight-knit community feel of Castle Rock, and especially loves meeting and supporting small business owners there. Misty's favorite children’s book is “The Crayon Box that Talked” by Shane DeRolf.

Alyssa lives in Colorado Springs with her husband and her 2 year-old daughter, Aslyn. Her background is in marketing and sociology, and is a self-described *foodie. Her love for reading tends to rub off on those around her; her husband recently added novels to his long list of technical books to read, and her two-year-old daughter will pretend to read anything she gets her hands on. Alyssa’s favorite children’s book is “Imogene’s Antlers,” by David Small.

*a foodie is a person who takes pride in knowing about ingredients and preparation of food.

Tim remembers reading with his dad every night before bed, and believes this has everything to do with why he enjoys reading. He recently graduated from the University of Notre Dame, and will begin medical school in the fall of 2009. Tim loves hiking and photography, and secretly aspires to be a novelist. He runs a blog about health in pop culture (http://whatthehealth.livejournal.com), and plans always to live within a day’s drive of the mountains. Tim’s favorite children’s book is “Duck for President,” by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin.