Reading With Kids

Tips to Try

• Select books with rhythm, rhyme, repetition, and silly sounds. The sillier, the better, and the funnier you look reading, the more your lil one will enjoy listening!
• Try books with sturdy pages, bright and bold illustrations, and interactive features. Flaps and different textures allow for a multisensory experience.
• Brush up on your Mother Goose rhymes. Sing nursery rhymes, and perform and teach the corresponding hand motions to your children. Just like books, nursery rhymes tell a story, with characters (like the itsy bitsy spider), a plot or problem ("down came the rain and washed the spider out"), and a conclusion ("out came the sun, dried up all the rain, and the spider went up the spout again").

Books to Read

• Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do You See (by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Eric Carle)
  A story with rhythmic text and large illustrations of animals in a rainbow of colors.
• Barnyard Banter (by Denise Fleming)
  Explore the animals of the barnyard with silly sounds, bright and bold colors, and a book that children can play along with.
• Toes, Ears and Nose (by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by Karen Katz)
  Let small children peek under flaps to find what is hidden under each one, while they learn to identify parts of the body.