“A book is a
present you can open again and again.” One of the best things about parents and
children reading together during early childhood is the chance to connect with
each other in the shared experience of a good book. Sometimes we parents are just as
delighted by the stories and illustrations as our children. Along with exposing
them to the stories we loved as children, reading regularly with our children
brings us many new treasures to explore, too. You are opening up new worlds for
them every time you start a new book. Did you know you will probably have read over
a thousand books to your child before she or he reaches kindergarten? If you read only 1
book a day together for 3 years you will have read 1,095 books! And if you’ve
been reading 1 book together daily since your child was about 6 months, that’s
over 1640 books! You can imagine how reading regularly with your child can have a
tremendous impact on literacy.
I’m going to
share with you some great infant, toddler, and preschool book ideas with direct links below. These are perfect to share with children on gift giving occasions and to look for at the
library.
Have you and
your family explored any of the 27 Seattle Public Library branches and their many
resources for families? If you haven’t, you’ll find enriching discoveries
ahead. Not only does visiting the library instantly expand your access to
hundreds of new book choices, you can also enjoy the many children’s story
times and other activities the children’s librarians have put together
throughout our city (check it out here: http://www.spl.org/audiences/children).
The public library is a great family destination during winter break and on evenings and weekends.
I
got into a weekly library routine in San Francisco when we took our 3s and 4s classes
each Friday morning on a neighborhood walk to the library for a special story time with a children's librarian. We got to know the librarian, and she got to
know each of the children by name and even their special interests. She always
had interesting new books to recommend to us teachers and exposed us and the
children to some amazing authors and illustrators. It created a lovely rhythm in
our weeks and was enriching for all of us. These weekly library outings connected
our children to their greater community and the books and services they enjoyed through
library were free of charge. My family and I also browsed our local bookshops
together regularly and collected a wonderful small home library of our own
favorites. You might enjoy visiting Secret Garden Books in Ballard, a full service
local shop that partners with Kidspace each year for our book fair.
Here are some suggested books for each age group, gathered from notable book lists, librarians,
and Kidspace children and teachers. Click on a Book List for an extended list of recommended books, and click the links to individual books recommended by class. Please comment below your own suggestions of great new books you've discovered, too.
Sequoia faves Baby Bear Sees
Blue, Hello Baby, and Baby Dance
Willow faves Where is the Green
Sheep, Funny
Face, Goodnight
Gorilla, and Everywhere Babies
Apples faves My Friend
Rabbit, The
Mommy Book, Pete
the Cat I Love My White Shoes, and Click
Clack Moo
Tree Frog faves And
Tango Makes Three, My
Mom Is a Firefighter, Diggers
Go
Dino faves Chicka
Chicka Boom Boom, Knuffel
Bunny, Richard
Scary’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, Paper Bag Princess,
Toy Boat, Mouse Mess, Abbiyoyo
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