Five Great Books to Read Aloud with Kids

The other night, when I tiptoed into Alice's room to check on her, I found her still awake and whispering to her stuffed animals.

"No, Templeton," she scolded. "That is not your slop."

She was acting out Charlotte's Web, and not in a million years would I have told her to go to bed just then.

We started reading the E.B. White classic, a chapter or two a night, about a week ago. I thought Alice might be a little too young for it - not the subject matter (though I am not looking forward to the ending) so much as the number of words and the lack of pictures. There are some pictures, of course. Beautiful ones by Garth Williams, but not a picture for every scene as in most of the books she has been read.

And beyond that, I wasn't sure she was ready to stick with a story that unfolds over days and weeks rather than just a few minutes. This was a book we would have to put down and pick back up night after night, remembering where we left off, and I just didn't know whether it would sustain her interest. But I wanted to give it a try.

So far, she's loving it. It helps that, when her dad reads it, he does all the farm animal voices.

When I bought our copy of Charlotte's Web, the cashier looked at it and said, "Oh, my mom used to read this to me."

I told her I was buying it to read to my daughter, but that I thought it was going to be a a bit of a stretch for her.

"That's OK," she said. "That's how we learn."

Don't you love conversations like that?

Anyway, reading aloud to children - especially before they start school - is heaven. And it has all sorts of developmental and educational benefits besides.

To help us discover even more books to share, I asked Suzy Daveluy, of the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library System, to reccommend some great family read-alouds. (The legendary Suzy Daveluy is youth services coordinator for the library, and also oversees literacy, outreach and programming). Here are her picks, in no particular order. All, coincidentally, are available throughout the local library system:

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
The classic adventures of Pooh Bear, Piglet, Christopher Robin and friends.

Mr Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
Small-town painter Mr. Popper unexpectedly comes to possess a penguin. And then two. And then a dozen. A Newbery Honor book.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Edward Tulane is a china rabbit, given to a 10-year-old girl by her grandmother. After selfish Edward is accidentally lost, he is passed along, from owner to owner, maturing along the way.

The Cricket in Times Square by George Seldon
Chester, a cricket from Connecticut gets caught on a commuter train and ends up in Times Square. Eventually, he reveals an unusual musical talent. A Newbery Honor book.

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
The diary of Ivan, a gorilla who has lived in a cage at the mall for 27 years. Winner of the 2013 Newbery Medal.

Five Tips for Reading Aloud to Young Children

Moms and kids create their own books together at a literacy workshop.

A project I am particularly proud to be part of is the Beyond Our Gates Reading by Third initiative, coordinated by University of the Pacific, with support from dozens of local individuals and organizations.

Research shows that the ability to read proficiently by the end of third grade is an important predictor of a child's educational success - kids who aren't strong readers by the time they leave third grade tend to fall behind, and many of them don't catch up. Unfortunately, fewer than half of third graders in our community are reading at grade level.

But we can turn things around.

One of the easiest - and, it must be said, most fun - ways to nurture strong readers is to read aloud to young children every day. Reading aloud help kids build vocabulary, make the connection between letters and words, and, perhaps most importantly, develop a strong bond with the adults in their lives.

For a lot of us, reading aloud feels easy and natural. But, many times, it can seem a little awkward, especially when your child is too young to sit still through a whole story, or even to really understand the words.

To help show parents how and why to read aloud to young children, we launched a series of summer literacy workshops. The project kicked off last week, and in celebration, I thought I'd share five simple tips for reading aloud with little ones (Tips compiled by First 5 San Joaquin):

1. Point to each word as you read so your child makes the connection between words and letters.
2. Read your child's favorite books over and over again.
3. Choose stories with rhyming words and lines that repeat.
4. Discuss new words. For example, "This big house is called a 'palace.' Who do you think lives in a palace?"
5. Stop and ask about the pictures and what is happening in the story.

Books to Prepare for a New Sibling

Hello again.

I hope you will forgive my absence.

I have spent the past few months getting to know sweet Soledad, the newest addition to our family.

She was born in March and is charming as can be - a cuddler from the start. And if, in my whole life, I am never ever lucky again, I still will have had more than my fair share of blessings.

It's hard to believe that just a few months ago, this baby was still a question mark. What would she look like? What would her demeanor be?

What would her big sister think of her?

Of all my pregnancy anxieties - and even the second time around, there were many - worries over how Alice would react to a new sibling had me the most preoccupied.

I'm the oldest of three, and while I am so deeply grateful to have siblings, I still felt guilty to be shaking up my little girl's world.

We tried to make this transition a smooth one by telling Alice what to expect, explaining what it would be like to have a baby in the house. Books turned out to be very helpful (And, of course, Alice is already a real champ of a big sister):

The Baby Sister by Tomie De Paola was our favorite.
A lot of books about new babies speak to the older sibling's worry and frustration about having a rival for mom and dad's time and affection. That's a big deal. But getting ready for baby is also joyful, and this book does a sweet job of celebrating that precious time. Unexpectedly, it also helped prepare Alice for the logistics of baby's arrival - in the story, the main character's mother goes to the hospital for a few days to have the baby while he stays home with Grandma. When it was time for me to go to the hospital, Alice barely shrugged: she knew it was coming and knew I'd be home again soon. (The Baby Sister is available through the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library System. Check it out.)

The New Baby by Eloise Wilkin is as simple and soothing as any of the other Little Golden Books you might have read. It meanders through the routines of an infant's day from the perspective of an older sister (who tenderly mothers the doll her dad gave her when he and her mom came home with a real newborn). We have read this one so many times that Alice has it memorized. Listening to her "read" it breaks my heart.

My New Baby, illustrated by Rachel Fuller, was leant to us by friends. It's nicely open-ended with cheerful drawings and simple text designed to encourage conversation about what it's like to have a new baby at home - What do babies eat? Why do they cry? Again, I like that it assumes having a new baby is a happy thing. Because it is.








Do you have any favorite books in the new brother/sister genre? I'd love to hear them.