------------------------------ OMB APPROVAL ------------------------------ OMB Number: 3235-0287 Expires: January 31, 2005 Estimated average burden hours per response.........0.5 ------------------------------ UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, DC 20549 FORM 4 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 |_| Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b). (Print of Type Responses) ________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* Perruzza Albert L. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Last) (First) (Middle) Reader's Digest Road -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Street) Pleasantville NY 10570 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (City) (State) (Zip) ________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. (RDA) ________________________________________________________________________________ 3. I.R.S. Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an entity (voluntary) ________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Statement for Month/Day/Year 4/19/2003 ________________________________________________________________________________ 5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year) ________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) |_| Director |_| 10% Owner |X| Officer (give title below) |_| Other (specify below) Senior Vice President, Global Operations and Business Redesign ________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable line) |X| Form Filed by One Reporting Person |_| Form Filed by More than One Reporting Person ________________________________________________________________________________ ================================================================================ Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned ================================================================================

FORM 4 (continued) Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities) ================================================================================

Explanation of Responses: /s/ALBERT L. PERRUZZA 4/21/2003 --------------------------------------------- ----------------------- Albert L. Perruzza **Signature of Reporting Person Date Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. * If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4(b)(v). ** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a). Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure. Page 2

PERRUZZA ALBERT L 4