In this episode of Reading Inspires, Dr. Erin Bailey speaks with Sabetha Wells, Quality Assurance lead at Stauffer's Biscuit Company, about the meaningful connection between snack time and story time as Stauffers celebrates 155 years and RIF marks 60 years. Sabetha shares how her grandmother's tradition of reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" alongside Stauffer's holiday cookies inspired her career path, and discusses the rigorous safety measures behind their new Simply Animals crackers—now peanut-free and made without high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors. The conversation explores how the 13 animal shapes in Simply Animals crackers create natural opportunities for imaginative play, vocabulary building, and early literacy development, culminating in the new partnership book "Bryson's Rocket Riddles" where 20% of proceeds support RIF's literacy programs.

About Sabetha Wells:
Sabetha Wells is a seasoned food safety and quality executive with more than 25 years of leadership experience spanning manufacturing, food processing, regulatory compliance, and cross‑functional quality systems management. As Vice President of Food Safety and Quality at Meiji America/Stauffer’s Biscuit Company, she provides strategic leadership and technical expertise across two major production facilities, ensuring all products meet or exceed customer expectations, GFSI standards, and regulatory requirements. In this role, she guides executive decision‑making, mentors plant and corporate teams, and drives forward‑looking initiatives that elevate food safety culture, operational excellence, and organizational capability.

Sabetha and her daughter like to pick out all the different Simply Animals characters and play with them by making the noises or create a scene before we eat them!

As Reading Is Fundamental celebrates 60 years of advancing children’s literacy, we’re proud to team up with Stauffer’s Simply Animals for National Reading Month. Together, we’re bringing snack time and story time together to spark imagination and encourage families to make reading part of their everyday routines. Based on one of the Simply Animals characters, Bryson, our two organizations collaborated on a new book, Bryson’s Rocket Riddles, created to inspire curiosity, playful learning and a love of reading. A portion of the book proceeds will go toward supporting RIF’s literacy programs which will help expand access to books and resources for children nationwide. To order, visit www.simplyanimals.com.