A study investigated the effectiveness of a program for at-risk parents designed to improve family reading and thus prepare at-risk children for school. The program, "Ready for Reading," consists of three two-hour sessions conducted with parents at their children's school while the children are in pre-kindergarten classes in various towns in southern Illinois. Parents are given a packet of three children's books, a guide with easy-to-make home activities, pamphlets, a calendar, and a coupon for an additional book to be redeemed at their local public library. Periodic home visits continue throughout the school year. Program evaluation is provided by a comparison of initial intake forms and information gathered at the follow-up visits, anecdotal records, and teacher observations. Results indicated that: (1) the strongest factor to encourage participation seemed to be networking with a pre-kindergarten provider that was already established and accepted in the local community; (2) communication between the family literacy teachers and the networking agencies was extremely important; (3) projects in each of the six communities served were flexible; and (4) the illiterate population was the hardest to reach. (RS)