It brought a retired teacher to tears. In the intensive language
skills class that she taught she showed a child two pictures - of a
toothbrush and a birthday cake - but he did not recognise them and
could not say what they were. What was missing, she realised, was not
just basic literacy, but love.

The principal of Parkes Public School, Rhonda Brain, remembers that
day and a later meeting in her office. The teachers knew it was a
crisis. Too many children could barely communicate. "How do we reach
them?"

Then came a chance exchange between the assistant principal of the
infants and a hospital midwife who was a mother at the school.

"I see the language problems at the pre-kindy interview," said the teacher in despair.

"I can tell when they're born," said the nurse. "The parents don't talk."

Mrs Brain had her answer. "We will give a book to every newborn
baby in the hospital. That's the one place where we will meet every
parent."

That was five years ago. The project, Birth to Kindergarten - Spread
the Word, has deeply affected attitudes in the western NSW city, says
the editor of the local Champion Post, Roel ten Cata.

"Parkes is bloody hard to motivate, it really is," Mr ten Cata said.
"Community-based things tend to go really well for the first couple of
years and then slowly fizzle out, but that hasn't been the case with
the Birth to Kindergarten project.

"The parents are right behind it and doing what is being asked of them. And the teachers just glow with praise for it."

A steering committee includes teachers from Parkes's seven schools,
a senior hospital midwife, the maternity bookings nurse, town council
officials, parents, clergy and a graphic designer.

A Sydney-based international consultant on literacy and visiting
professor at San Francisco State University, Loretta Giorcelli, who has
been closely involved since the beginning, says it is a unique project
that is being widely watched.

"It was a community of teachers, municipal council members and
health workers who looked at issues of teen pregnancy and of young
people leaving school with inadequate literacy levels," she said.

"The question that they asked that was different to every other town
was what can we do as a community. Not what can we do as a school, or
as a maternal health clinic, or as a health service. What they did was
get together."

A crucial force has been Mrs Brain, who has been a visionary,
lobbyist, organiser, motivator and public relations agent for the
project.

On a private visit to Gallipoli three years ago, she bailed up the
then Governor-General, Sir William Deane, to shake his hand but also to
tell him about the project.

When she got back to Parkes she wrote to him, inviting him to the
school: "Remember me, I'm the woman who kept pestering you ..."

The day in 2000 that Sir William and Lady Deane visited for the
annual reading day and street parade spurred Mrs Brain to new heights.

Last year she invited the Queen Mother and got a long reply from
Clarence House that concluded: "The Queen Mother offers her warmest
regards and congratulations in all that has been achieved in the
project ... her Majesty sends her best wishes to all the children of
Parkes."

The letter was read out by the deputy mayor, who had dressed up in
period costume, and Parkes felt "blessed out of its socks", according
to Mrs Brain.

But the biggest test is still ahead. Although the project has been
endorsed by the NSW Education Department and adopted by four other
communities, it remains experimental.

This year's kindergarten classes in Parkes for the first time include children who got their first book as part of the project.

The book, Toby's Troubles, is about a baby whose mother reads to him whenever he is unsettled or in strife.

When he starts school, his mother fears the worst when the teacher
asks her to a meeting. "I just wanted to know your secret," the teacher
says. To which the proud mother replies: "I read to him every day."

The Toby book is the main book in a series - all written and
illustrated locally - which are given at crucial times, including at
the hospital and the immunisation clinic.

Other books in the series are read in class. There is also a song
about reading which is taught at school and sung at assembly.

Will the project make a difference? As part of their pre-enrolment
routine, children at two of the schools were assessed for reading
readiness, including their familiarity with books and basic language.

According to the retired assistant principal Jan Perry, who did the
tests, the results were promising. "There was an improvement, albeit
small, but it was moving in the right direction," she said.

Ms Perry's concern is not only to meet the immediate goal of reading
skills for the youngest group but also to drum home the message to
future parents, particularly those who might become pregnant in their
teenage years.

It is no accident that the Governor, Professor Marie Bashir, this
year's annual reading day guest, has been booked to speak at Parkes
High School on the importance of reading to babies and having proper
conversations with them.

Professor Giorcelli says that the good instincts of people in Parkes
are borne out by international research that has repeatedly shown that
the highest predictor of success in children is the level of their
mother's education at 15.

"They understood that it was a circle that went back to early nurturing," she said.

For Mrs Brain it has been a revelation. She had always been aware of
the impact of parents - she is mad about old Westerns just like her
mother and father - but didn't realise it began from birth.

"It's the from birth that's news to me. The language-rich
environment for children before school is not new to me and I'm very
aware that early environment shapes our attitudes and sets patterns for
the rest of our life. But I wasn't aware of how important it is right
from birth.

"This is now about the whole relationship. It's almost like raising
up the idea of getting parents to hug their children. The big picture
is much bigger than I thought."