HOUSTON -- Research shows that six out of 10 low-income families in America have no books at home for their preschoolers.

These kids tend to fall behind, sometimes up to two grade levels, before they even arrive at kindergarten. Experts said those same children are three to four times more likely to drop out of school.

So the national literacy nonprofit agency, Jumpstart, hoped to change that by inviting kids across America to read together.

On Thursday, pre-k and kindergarten students at The School at St. George Place in the Galleria area were treated to special visitors who read the classic children's book, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."

HISD Superintendent Terry Grier and KPRC Local 2 anchor Rachel McNeill joined actors, congressmen and public officials across the nation for Jumpstart's "Read for the Record" campaign to combat illiteracy.

The Pearson Foundation spokeswoman Adriana Villarreal said, "There really is a reading literacy crisis across the nation."

The goal is to get more than 1 million students reading the same book on the same day.

Villarreal explained, "When the children see that there are other people that they look up to that are reading and they think are important, it makes it exciting for children and they get really excited about reading themselves."

Experts said Read for the Record is more than a competition, it's an investment.

HISD Early Childhood Development Specialist Susan Gubitz said, "Children who aren't reading on grade level by third grade have serious problems from there on, and we deal with students who are dropping out of school and falling further and further behind in their cognitive development, and yes, it raises all kinds of issues."

Grier said closing the literacy gap is tops on his agenda for HISD.

He told KPRC Local 2, "It's big. It's one of our biggest challenges, it really is."

So, he has a homework assignment for parents.

Grier said, "I would love to see every parent in our school community read with or read to their children 20 minutes a day, every day, seven days a week."

More than 33,000 local kids were invited by HISD and The Pearson Foundation to join in the quest to shatter the world reading record.

Jumpstart set the record in 2008 with 700,000 readers.