Two esteemed organizations in the military community are joining forces to better support military families through reading and book access. Today, Elva Resa Publishing and United Through Reading (UTR) announced their “multiyear strategic collaboration,” with their shared focus of reading bringing the companies together.
Partnership with a shared goal
Elva Resa Publishing is an established publisher founded by Karen Pavlicin, a former Marine Corps spouse. Elva Resa caters its publishing to military families, and has provided books and resources on military family life for nearly three decades. Similarly, UTR has encouraged military families to bond through reading since 1989, utilizing recordings and apps to encourage family reading even during separation due to training and deployments. The nonprofit enables active-duty military members and veterans of all branches — including National Guard and Reserves — to record themselves reading a book at a designated UTR Story Station or within their app, and then send the video and book home for their family to read along “with” them.
“Both organizations have supported the unique needs of the military community for decades,” said Pavlicin. “This collaboration carries that legacy forward. Combining each organization’s strengths in sustainable ways allows us to make an even greater positive impact for today’s military family.”
2026 Book for the Military Child
The natural partnership of the brands expands their military support and advocacy, with Elva Resa set to publish the UTR’s Book for the Military Child for the next two years. One book is selected annually, and it was recently announced that the 2026 Book for the Military Child is Elva Resa’s newest picture book “Home Moves With Me,” written by Kathy Feedham Raggio with art by Quinette Cook.
“This year’s Book for the Military Child reflects the experience of moving, a defining part of military life for children around the world,” said Laura Steiner, UTR’s director of outreach and engagement strategy.
Both the author and the artist of this year’s book are familiar with the military life and community: Raggio is a former military child who became an Air Force wife, and has moved her own military family eight times, and Cook’s father served during the Korean War.
“For me, home was never the building we lived in,” said Raggio. “It was my family, memories made, and our traditions that went with us from one place to another, those things that made us feel like we were home, no matter the dwelling or place in the world.”
To ensure military families have widespread access to the 2026 Book for the Military Child, it has also been translated into Spanish — “Mi hogar se muda conmigo” — by Panamanian American author Gabriella Aldeman. With 19.2% of active-duty DOD members identifying as Hispanic or Latino, according to a 2024 Department Of Defense Demographics Profile of the Military Community report, this translation allows military families who speak Spanish at home to bond over reading in their preferred language.
“We’ve seen more requests for books related to military life and for books in Spanish, two of Elva Resa’s strengths,” said Samantha Hagan-Lingad, UTR’s vice president of programs.
Serving the community, one book at a time
As a result of this partnership, UTR will be adding 17 Elva Resa children’s books to its library: eight in English, eight in Spanish, and one bilingual board book. In April, “Home Moves With Me”/ “Mi hogar se muda conmigo” will be released to the military community to celebrate the Month of the Military Child, and 14,000 copies will be distributed to military families around the world.
“Serving military families is such an honor, and one that we share with Elva Resa,” said UTR CEO Carrie Valentine Fuller. “We respect each other’s work, and this is a natural fit for both organizations. We’re excited to add so many fresh, relevant titles to our library through this partnership, which will ultimately lead to countless storytime recordings and special moments of connection for military families, no matter the distance.”
Service members can use the UTR app to record reading for a whole-family experience. Organizations can buy books for programs here.
