Strong correlations between high levels of poverty and low education outcomes have prompted interventions aimed at raising literacy levels in communities characterised by poverty within Kenya, as in other countries. However, interventions aimed at improving literacy only in the languages of instruction (LOI) may not be the best option for students who speak mother tongues (MT) different from the school's LOI. The Capability Approach framework is used to examine the potential of parent-produced MT materials to be low-cost entry points into early-grade literacy for one resource-poor Kenyan school. It demonstrates that factors related to poverty strongly impact that potential.