{"id":2575343,"date":"2026-03-02T18:27:57","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T23:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/photos-usha-vance-talks-child-literacy-at-hospital-reading-event\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T18:32:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T23:32:32","slug":"photos-usha-vance-talks-child-literacy-at-hospital-reading-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/photos-usha-vance-talks-child-literacy-at-hospital-reading-event\/","title":{"rendered":"PHOTOS: Usha Vance talks child literacy at hospital reading event"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fphotos-usha-vance-talks-child-literacy-at-hospital-reading-event%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2575343&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Second Lady Usha Vance read to young patients at Children\u2019s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., as National Reading Month (and Dr. seuss month) began, underscoring her focus on improving childhood literacy. She read Dr. Seuss\u2019s The Sneetches and Other Stories in the hospital\u2019s \u201cDr. Bear\u2019s Den\u201d reading room, answering a few questions from the Washington Examiner, and noted personal reasons for championing literacy\u2014she has three kids at different stages of learning to read. The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >event occurred amid broader concerns<\/a> about a national literacy decline, wiht the latest NAEP results showing decreases in reading for fourth- and eighth-graders, prompting Vance to call for continued support for schools to reverse the trend. The reading session provided a domestic policy reprieve from foreign-policy headlines about U.S. strikes on Iran. Hospital officials, including Dr. Beth Wells, emphasized that storytelling helps comfort pediatric patients and supports neurodevelopment.Vance also left plush toys for the children and revealed she is expecting a fourth child,a boy due in late July.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">PHOTOS: Usha Vance talks child literacy at hospital reading event<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2479965\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>EXCLUSIVE<\/strong> <strong>&mdash;<\/strong> With the world watching a widening conflict in the Middle East, second lady <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/usha-vance\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"11769\">Usha Vance<\/a> is keeping an eye on the home front.<\/p>\n<p>Vance, 40, spent time <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4476455\/usha-vance-visit-childrens-national-hospital-national-reading-month\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4476455\/usha-vance-visit-childrens-national-hospital-national-reading-month\/\">reading to young patients of Children&rsquo;s National Hospital<\/a> in Washington on Monday, taking a couple of questions from the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> and some in the &ldquo;Dr. Bear&rsquo;s Den&rdquo; reading room.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4477239\/white-house-doctor-weighs-in-trump-mystery-rash\/\">White House doctor weighs in on Trump&#8217;s mystery rash<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4476906\/trump-dodges-iran-questions-medal-of-honor-ceremony\/\">Trump says Iran missiles could soon have reached US and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-says-iran-missiles-could-soon-reach-us-and-snubs-questions\/\" title=\"Trump says Iran missiles could soon reach US and snubs ...\">snubs press questions<\/a> on conflict<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4474372\/trump-us-ahead-iran-operation-epic-fury\/\">Trump claims Iran operation &#8216;ahead of schedule&#8217; as US sinks 10 ships<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Second lady Usha Vance reads to patients on Monday, March 2, 2026, at Children&rsquo;s National Hospital in Washington. (Credit: Emily Higgins, White House photographer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Vance&rsquo;s appearance at the hospital coincided with the start of National Reading Month,&nbsp;underscoring her top priority as second lady: improving childhood literacy. It also took place against the backdrop of military strikes against Iran that have preoccupied her husband, Vice President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jd-vance\/\">JD Vance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>When asked why childhood literacy is so important to her with so many competing priorities for the administration at home and abroad, Vance underscored how the issue is &ldquo;something that&rsquo;s top of mind in our own household right now, with three kids, all of whom are at different stages of learning to read and learning to kind of love books.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;From a broader perspective, if you&rsquo;re reading the news at all now, it&rsquo;s pretty obvious that we&rsquo;re at a crisis point in childhood literacy, and that the skill that&rsquo;s foundational to everything else that they could possibly hope to do in their life, is something that we really need to be focusing on as a country,&rdquo; Vance told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The National Assessment of Educational Progress, also called the nation&rsquo;s report card, found in January 2025 that reading levels for fourth and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/public-schools-near-rochester-mandate-anti-racist-curriculum-overseen-by-blm-leader-who-said-i-dont-care-if-the-whole-city-burned-down\/\" title=\"Public Schools Near Rochester Mandate \u2018Anti...Racist\u2019 Curriculum Overseen By BLM Leader Who Said \u2018I Don\u2019t Care If The Whole City Burned Down\u2019\">eighth grade students<\/a> had decreased by 2 percentage points in 2024 compared to 2022.<\/p>\n<p>In that report card, one-third of eighth grade students scored below &ldquo;basic&rdquo; in reading, the most in the report&rsquo;s history, and 40% of fourth graders recorded the same result, the most in two decades.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Having children of my own, as a parent, there are all sorts of things that you can do, small things, to support the work that schools are doing that&rsquo;s so important and hopefully try to reverse this trend,&rdquo; Vance said. &ldquo;So we&rsquo;re experimenting with different ways of supporting the work that schools are doing and hopefully helping reverse this decline and giving kids the opportunities that they deserve.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Although Vance did not answer questions regarding foreign policy or her pregnancy &mdash; she is expecting her fourth child, a boy, in late July &mdash; the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> was in the room for her to read from Dr. Seuss&rsquo;s <em>The Sneetches and Other Stories<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Second lady Usha Vance reads to patients on Monday, March 2, 2026, at Children&rsquo;s National Hospital in Washington. (Credit: Emily Higgins, White House photographer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>March is also Dr. Seuss Month because he was born on March 2.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;My daughter picked it specially,&rdquo; Vance said of her only daughter, Mirabel, 4. &ldquo;She couldn&rsquo;t come and join me today, but she was asking me to read it just this morning, so we thought that maybe a lot of people here might like it too. And it&rsquo;s by Dr. Seuss, who actually spent a lot of his life in my hometown in San Diego, where we also have a very good children&rsquo;s hospital.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Vance similarly praised Children&rsquo;s National Hospital.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is the first place that my own first kid got his medical care for the first year of his life,&rdquo; she said of Ewan, 8. &ldquo;So it&rsquo;s a very special place, and I&rsquo;m really happy to be here with all of you.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the reading, which was broadcast around the hospital, Vance left a gift for the children in the room: new plush toys of the second couple&rsquo;s dog, Atlas.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Second lady Usha Vance reads to patients on Monday, March 2, 2026, at Children&rsquo;s National Hospital in Washington. (Credit: Emily Higgins, White House photographer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Second lady Usha Vance reads to patients on Monday, March 2, 2026, at Children&rsquo;s National Hospital in Washington. (Credit: Emily Higgins, White House photographer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Dr. Beth Wells, the chief clinical officer for Children&rsquo;s National Hospital, welcomed Vance&rsquo;s trip to the hospital, emphasizing &ldquo;how important these stories are for children in a healthcare setting.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4476455\/usha-vance-visit-childrens-national-hospital-national-reading-month\/\"><strong>USHA VANCE TO VISIT CHILDREN&rsquo;S NATIONAL HOSPITAL TO MARK NATIONAL READING MONTH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It brings comfort,&rdquo; Wells said. &ldquo;It helps with their neurodevelopment.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Vance&rsquo;s event provided a domestic policy reprieve to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-russia-ukraine-war-what-historical-analogies-make-sense\/\" title=\"The Russia...Ukraine War: What Historical Analogies Make Sense?\">foreign policy news<\/a> of the day, with Trump addressing last Saturday&rsquo;s strikes against Iran at the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/white-house\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"8767\">White House<\/a> and first lady Melania Trump speaking at the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/united-nations\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"110\">United Nations<\/a> in New York.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paraphrase:<br \/>\nSecond Lady Usha Vance spent National Reading Month at Children\u2019s National Hospital in Washington, reading aloud to young patients and taking a few questions in the hospital\u2019s reading space. She framed childhood literacy as a top domestic priority even as international tensions draw attention elsewhere, noting that she and her husband, Vice President JD Vance, are focused on their three children who are at different stages of learning to read. Vance pointed to a broader literacy crisis, citing the latest NAEP results showing declines for fourth- and eighth-graders and warning that too many children are not reaching basic reading levels. She said small, practical steps can support schools and help reverse the downward trend, giving kids better opportunities. She read Dr. Seuss\u2019s The Sneetches and Other Stories, a pick her daughter Mirabel suggested, and mentioned that March is Dr. Seuss Month. Vance praised the hospital, recalling it as where her own first child received care during his early life. At the end, she left new plush Atlas toys for the children in the room, named after the family\u2019s dog. The hospital\u2019s chief clinical officer called reading in a medical setting comforting and beneficial for neurodevelopment. The event provided a domestic-policy moment amid the day\u2019s foreign-policy headlines about Iran.<\/p>\n<p>55-character caption:<br \/>\nPHOTOS: Usha Vance reads to kids at DC hospital<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2652,"featured_media":2575344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_0929.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[74919,74920,35150],"class_list":["post-2575343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-child-literacy","tag-hospital-reading-event","tag-usha-vance"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_0929.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2652"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2575343"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2575347,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575343\/revisions\/2575347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2575344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2575343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2575343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2575343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}