A Year of Books

Reading to your Child: What a Reading Teacher Recommends

While I don’t consider myself an “expert” per se, as a Reading/English teacher, it would surprise no one that I think reading is mighty important. Never mind the numerous studies that extol the virtues and rewards of reading aloud to kids. I find it to be a particularly relaxing and pleasant way to spend some quality time with my toddler. Reading with mama is probably my son’s favorite activity, second only to eating! We climb in bed, pile on the pillows and blankets, and grab a stack of books.

I have quite a few books at home, but we go through so many that the vast majority come from the local library. Having a library is such a godsend, let me tell you… Here we are closing in on the end of another year, so here’s a partial list some of the things we’ve read together (this is probably only half of the things we’ve read at most). If you’re wondering what on earth to read to a 2-year-old boy, these are all things that worked well for us:

(* recommended , ** strongly recommended—it was a favorite)

1,2,3 to the Zoo (Eric Carle)** 10 Little Rubber Ducks (Eric Carle) A color of his own ** Ants Baby Bug (magazine) Big and small Big book of transporation Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? (Eric Carle)** Bumblebees Child’s garden of verses* Color Farm Crickets Dig! Lift! Push! Farm machinery Gallop! Garbage Trucks Go, dog, go! (P.D. Eastman) *condensed version ** Have you seen my cat? How Kind! I love trucks!* I spy little bunnies I spy little hearts I went walking Long and short Moo, baa, la la My first book of food My food /Mi comida* Oops! Plant ABC Richard Scarry’s Shapes and Opposites* Richard Scarry’s Word Book* Tap, tap, tap, what’s hatching? That’s not my train (Usborne)** The airport The baby goes beep The five trucks * The Foot Book (Dr. Seuss)** The Itsy Bitsy Spider The Mixed up Chameleon (Eric Carle) The very quiet cricket (Eric Carle)** Time for Bed Tonka trucks Tools Tow trucks Tractors Trains Trucks Usborne book of trucks Very hungry caterpillar** Waddle! Wheels on the bus Where does Maisy live?** While you were sleeping

Commentary: Here’s a few observations and reflections about some of the things we read this year:

Eric Carle books are generally well-liked by kids. His books span the early childhood spectrum, and he has titles that appeal to babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary-aged children. They are glorious picture books, full of bright colorful illustrations. Some sample titles are: “1,2,3 to the Zoo” (this was good to teach about counting and animals), 10 Little Rubber Ducks, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? (good for teaching colors/animals), The Mixed up Chameleon, Have you seen my cat?, The very quiet cricket (this was a poignant read for me because my son has a speech delay and the story is about a cricket who can’t chirp), Very hungry caterpillar (a classic, probably read in every kindergarten classroom in the country), Draw Me a Star.

I work with teenagers, and boys in particular seem to enjoy non-fiction, and will happily read that when nothing else seems to attract their interest. So it would behoove a reading teacher to keep plenty of non-fiction around in the classroom. As a parent, it’s not that practical to acquire tons of non-fiction titles, although DK reference books are a good resource for a non-fiction collection in the home. Fortunately, the library is a good resource for introducing non-fiction books to kids. Most are aimed at elementary-age readers, but there’s no reason you can’t read them to toddlers (who are just as curious about the world as older children). A few examples of these short, easy books are: Ants, Bumblebees, Big and small, and Tap, tap, tap, what’s hatching?

Baby Bug (magazine) is a poetry magazine aimed at toddlers. My son isn’t crazy about this publication as a whole (I think it probably works better for girls), but he did like certain selections from it.

“Transportation Books”: Boys tend to eat this stuff up. There’s usually tons of these in the library, from board books, to more exhaustive encyclopedic compendiums of different modes of transportation. You have stories about trucks like “Dig! Lift! Push!” and “I love trucks” to straightforward easy-readers about trucks like “Garbage Trucks”, to the “Usborne Book of Trucks”. A similar genre is books about trains. When you’re sick to death of reading books with cartoon characters (like Thomas books/Cars) give these non-fiction books a go.

Child’s garden of verses* Written long ago by Robert Louis Stevenson, this is a childhood classic. While some of it is quite dated by now, some of the poems are still quite enjoyable. Technically better for older children, there’s no reason not to introduce poetry earlier.

“Gallop!” and “Waddle!” are visual special effects books that show animals running/moving when you turn the pages. Small children love these things to pieces. Literally. It’s hard to find one in a library that hasn’t been taped back together.

P.D. Eastman books are another crowd pleaser. “Where’s my mother” is probably the most famous, but no less deserving is “Go, dog, go!” The condensed version is a bit better for toddlers than the original which is rather lengthy.

I spy books: These are fun when your kid reaches the “matching” stage. I used these to informally teach about numbers and shapes and colors.

“My food /Mi comida” is one of a delightful series of bilingual books for babies/toddlers. I love the simple pictures (made of paper cutouts) and large text. They’re great for teaching vocabulary, and print awareness.

Richard Scarry Books. I loved these growing up, and my son seems to love them too. I’m glad they’re still around. Most of them are huge, and unwieldy for a toddler, but they do make condensed board book versions of some of the longer books, such as “Shapes and Opposites” and Richard Scarry’s “Word Book”.

Usborne “Touch and Feel Books”. Usborne put out a series of “touch and feel” board books on a number of topics. They all have a title that starts with “That’s not my…” You can start these in infancy, but toddlers enjoy them as well.

Dr. Seuss books are wonderful, but most are written for slightly older children (who are around kindergarten age/emergent readers). Two that are short enough and work well for toddlers are The Foot Book (Dr. Seuss), and the ABC book.

Maisy books: Very simple with colorful illustrations, these are gender-neutral and appealing to babies and toddlers. Some of them are lift-flap books which toddlers love.