John Kealanahele reads to his 5-year-old daughter each night, although he is an ocean away and hasn't been in the same room with her for more than two years.

That makes their bedtime-story ritual a little different than that of other parents who read to their children.

Kealanahele is incarcerated at Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, which houses prisoners from Hawaii serving lengthy sentences.

Twice a month, a CD recording of his voice and accompanying storybook are sent to his daughter, Kiana, who lives with her mother in Waipahu, a town on Oahu.

"My daughter can't get enough of it," Kealanahele said. "She's always waiting for the books to come in the mail with the CDs. She really does enjoy it because she rarely gets to see me, she rarely hears my voice, but it's good to have me reading to her before she goes to bed."

Kealanahele is one of about 145 prisoners at the facility to take part in Fathers Bridging the Miles, a program that helps incarcerated men maintain a bond with their children through books while improving their reading skills.

Fathers Bridging the Miles is one of five recipients of the new Innovations in Reading Prize by the National Book Foundation. Winners named last week were chosen for their creativity, dedication and leadership in pursuit of creating a lifelong love of reading.

"It is amazing to see the relationships between fathers and their children bloom over books and reading," said Pat Mizuno, program director of Read To Me International. "We know our program is having an impact when we meet former program participants after being paroled and they are still reading to their children."

Read To Me International created Fathers Bridging the Miles with a $1.25 million Promoting Responsible Fatherhood grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The program is available to prisoners with children ages 2 to 10 years old.

Participants are required to attend parenting classes and group talk sessions.

What they learn there helps them to better communicate with their children during infrequent phone calls and video chats, as well as in the notes they write inside the books' covers and personal messages recorded at the end of readings.

"The men take time to talk to their children, sing songs, sometimes there's discipline and direction," said Patryce Samuel, a social worker who helps administer the program. "I think that's a benefit, that connection they wouldn't normally have with their fathers being on the mainland."

Earlier this week, Kealanahele spoke into a handheld digital recorder as he sat in a corner with a book on his lap. He faced the wall to block out the din of other men reading books aloud.

He read "Tiger Can't Sleep," by S.J. Fore, the story of a young boy who can't sleep because a tiger in his closet keeps making noise. Kealanahele noted that Kiana likes stories with animals.

He breezed through the book and then paused.

"Daddy loves you very much, honey," he said into the recorder, followed by a kissing sound. "Be good for Mommy. Love you."

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