Weekly Trip to the Library

The Practical Guide For Reading Aloud to Children During Their First Five Years

From http://www.readaloudguide.com/

Susan Marx and Barbara Kasok, authors of Help Me Get Ready To Read: The Practical Guide For Reading Aloud To Children During Their First Five Yearsexplain that when you read aloud to children you are fostering their self-esteem by creating a nurturing environment and being a positive role model.

Reading Aloud to Children Creates a Nurturing Environment By:

• giving a child positive feedback
• considering the child's age and stage of development, interests, and attention span
• turning off the TV
• not answering the phone
• connecting things that happen in books to your child's real-life experiences
• asking the child to read books to you
• connecting books that you have read together by pointing out similarities and differences

Be a Positive Role Model By:

• telling the child how much you enjoy reading books together
• giving books as gifts to the child and others on special occasions
• laughing with a child when reading silly books
• choosing and reading books of their own
• handling books with care
• being patient and focused while reading aloud with the child
• looking for opportunities to learn new things

Establish Read-Aloud Routines By:

• setting up reading times such as at nap or bedtime, or story hour
• finding a quiet reading place such as a bed, chair, or reading corner
• placing books in a basket or on a shelf to make them accessible to the child
• encouraging the child to select books to read aloud together
• avoiding reading scary books at bedtime
• bringing favorite books along when you go away from home
• arranging library visits as a regular activity
• exchanging books with other families

The authors recommend the following children's books to read with children to help them develop early literacy concepts and skills on some favorite topics.

All About Me
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, Harcourt, 2008. Rhyming text and illustrations of babies born in different places around the world tell how children are all alike. It is so much fun reading this lap board book with little ones.



Families and Friends
Owl Babiesby Martin Waddell, illustrated by Patrick Benson, Candlewick, 1972. Three baby owls worry while their mother is away and are happy when she returns at the end of the story.



Food
Bee-Bim Bop!by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Ho Baek Lee, Clarion, 2005. In this book that includes a recipe, a young girl helps her mom shop so they can cook a favorite dish for their family.



Animals
The Cow Loves Cookiesby Karma Wilson, illustrated by Marcellus Hall, McElderry, 2010. Animals on a farm love eating their own foods, but an unusual cow loves eating cookies in this humorous story.



Dinosaurs
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague, Blue Sky, 2000. Imaginative illustrations fill the pages along with rhyming text that asks and answers questions about dinosaurs’ bedtime behavior.



Things That Go
Tip Tip Dig Dig Boxer, 2007. Simple text combines with illustrations of construction vehicles to describe the work the trucks do building an adventure playground.



Weather
Who Likes Rain?by Wong Herbert Yee, Holt, 2007. A young girl learns the answer to the title question after venturing outside during an April rain.