Growing a Reader: Kids Books, Tips and More

Let's get Ready for Reading: A fun and easy guide to help kids become readers...so what else is in the guide continued...

 

What happens first, next and last? 

As you read with your child, take time to talk together about the book.  Don’t feel the need to read the book straight through to the end without stopping before you can have these discussions.  It is perfectly alright to stop on a page as you are reading and point to the pictures asking questions like, “What’s this?” or “What are they doing?”  Try to ask questions that can’t be answered with “yes” or “no”. 

Give them time to consider your question and what is happening in the picture on the page.  Also, give them time to think about what you have just read to them thus far in the story.  Encourage your child to ask you questions about the story too.  You can also add to what they respond to you, for example, if they say, “Dog” you might say, “That’s right!  It’s a big brown dog and he’s digging a hole in the grass.” 

Ask them what they think is going to happen next.  Encourage them to use their imagination to predict and describe to you how they think the story will unfold or end.  Once you have read through the story ask them to tell you what happened at the beginning, in the middle and at the end.  Ask questions like, “What happened next?” and “Why did that happen?” and “What part did you like best?”

Wordless picture books are great for encouraging your child’s storytelling skills.  They also encourage the use of descriptive language.  By giving your child the opportunity to tell a story in their own way, with their own words, you encourage their self-esteem and confidence, but also stimulate their inventive and creative thinking – imagination is a wonderful thing, especially that of a child’s.

Here are some of my favourite wordless picture books:

 

Good night, Gorilla / by Peggy Rathmann

 

 

 

Hug / by Jez Alborough

 

 

 

Have you seen my duckling / by Nancy Tafuri

 

 

 

Wave / by Suzy Lee

 

 

 

The Lion & the Mouse / by Jerry Pinkney

 

 

It is important to note that, your child does not need to be preschool age (3-5 years) in order for you to be doing this with them.  Get into the habit of engaging your child in this manner almost immediately.  At first you will be asking and answering all the questions, but as your child’s language skills develop they will begin to respond to you, already having an understanding of the interaction from you.

For more on this tip and many others see pages 30 to 33 of Let’s get Ready for Reading: A fun and easy guide to help kids become readers.

Join us again next Friday for another tip from the Guide!

 

Let's get Ready for Reading: A fun and easy guide to help kids become readers...so what else is in the guide continued...

Did you know that by playing “I Spy” with your child you actually encourage vocabulary building? 

“I spy with my little eye, something that is…” by asking your child to find something according to the category, shape, colour and size that you have described to them, you teach them how to look at and describe the world around them. 

Playing “I Spy” encourages the use of descriptive and expressive language, as well as, problem solving and critical thinking.  …Who knew?

The more you talk to your child, the richer their vocabulary will become. 

Talk to your child all day long.  Talk about and explain what you are doing.  Talk about the various things that you are using.  Explain their function and purpose.  Point out and name objects or items to your child.  Use words to describe the actions that you and your child are engaging in, but also, and most importantly, the world around them. 

Talk about feelings – yours and your child’s feelings.  I feel sad and this is why.  I feel happy and this is why.  By knowing words to express themselves by, you empower your little one to tell you not only what they want, but also how they feel.   

Remember, you are your child’s first and absolute favourite playmate, for more tips like this one (page 26) and others on games to play, check out Lets get Ready for Reading: A fun and easy guide to help kids become readers.

Visit back with us next Friday for another great tip from the Guide!

Let's get Ready for Reading: A fun and easy guide to help kids become readers...so what else is in the guide???

Enjoying books often and together on a daily basis is the first step towards developing a love of reading in your child.  Making reading time a fun and enjoyable experience demonstrates to your child that reading is a good thing. 

The question we as librarians get asked most often by parents and caregivers is, “How do I choose a good book for my child?”…the answer is really quite simple…

When selecting books for your little one a good start is to follow their lead, in other words, try to find books that follow your child’s developing interests.  For example, if they are fascinated with diggers and bulldozers (construction), find and read picture books such as At a Construction Site / by Don Kilby or B is for Bulldozer: A Construction ABC / by June Sobel or Digger Man / by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha.  Read them together. Point out and name the different machinery.  Start a conversation by asking them what the bulldozer or digger is doing.  Most importantly, don’t limit yourself to picture books.  Find information books or true stories (non-fiction) about diggers, bulldozers and construction.  It’s an opportunity for both you and your child to learn together about things they are expressing an interest in.  It’s also an opportunity for you and your child to spend time together.  Let them know that for you, reading and learning with them, is your favourite part of the day.

Share books with your child, even your baby, everyday and throughout the day.  You can also pick a specific time of day to read so that it becomes routine.  Children are creatures of habit.  Routines help your child to gain confidence by knowing what comes next.  Most importantly, make reading together a happy time; creating a pleasant feeling and memory for your child, thereby developing their interest in reading.

These tips can be found on pages 7 to 10 of: Let’s get Ready for Reading: A fun and easy guide to help kids become readers.    

See you next Friday for another fun and easy tip from the Guide!

 

Let's get Ready for Reading: A fun and easy guide to help kids become readers...so what's in it??

Let's get Ready for Reading: A fun and easy guide to help kids become readers, was launched on March 26, 2013.  It’s been out for a month now, and we’ve received great response. 

The guide was developed as a fun, research-based booklet for parents, caregivers and educators of children from birth to five.   Think of the guide as a little piece of our expert children’s librarian staff to take home with you, ready for you to reference at any time.    

The guide expands upon the six Ready for Reading skills that parents and caregivers already learn about in our Storytimes.  Each skill has its own chapter in the guide.  Each chapter outlines the skill, developmental milestones parents and caregivers can look for, as well as, suggestions on books to read, rhymes and activities to do with your little one.  As City Librarian Jane Pyper says, “Open the guide to ANY page and you will find useful information and tips that you can immediately put into practice.”

 

Here’s an example…do you remember the tongue twister Peter Piper? 

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

 

Did you know that tongue twisters are useful for encouraging children to hear the similar sounds at the beginning of words? 

 

How about Old MacDonald Had a Farm?

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.

And on that farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O.

With a moo, moo here and a moo, moo there,

Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo.

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O   

 

Did you know that when children can imitate animal noises they are also learning to hear the sounds in words, developing the skill that helps them to sound out words when they are learning to read?

 

These two rhymes, and tips, on what sharing them with your child can do, can be found on pages 18 and 19 of Let’s Get Ready for Reading: A fun and easy guide to help kids become readers. 

 

And that’s what the guide is all about.  Helping parents and caregivers find easy ways to “pepper” early literacy activities into the course of their and their child’s day.  When you read, talk, sing and play together, you help your child’s knowledge of reading and writing without even realizing it.  It’s that easy!

 

Check us out on Fridays for more on what's in the Guide!

Let's Get Ready for Reading: a fun and easy guide to help kids become readers

Today, Toronto Public Library launched Let's Get Ready for Reading, a fun and handy research-based guide for parents, caregivers and educators of children from birth to five. The guide was developed by our expert children’s librarians and is full of book recommendations, rhymes, songs, finger plays, activities and reading readiness tips, all based on the Ready for Reading skills and practices.

Let's Get Ready for Reading is available to browse and borrow at Toronto Public Library branches throughout the city. Place a hold on a copy now. You can also purchase a copy at any branch for $3.

Let's Get Ready for Reading has been made possible through funding from the Toronto Public Library Foundation, thanks to a generous donation by an anonymous donor. The Foundation is also grateful for the support provided by the J.P. Bickell Foundation and Rotary Club of Toronto.

Thanks to this generous funding, we plan to distribute 100,000 copies of the guide to kindergartners, Ontario Early Years Centres, Parenting and Family Literacy Centres and licensed daycares, through library community outreach programs, and to every branch of every public library system in Ontario over the coming year. In partnership with Toronto Public Health, copies of the guide will also be given to newborns and toddlers in Toronto this year through programs for new parents. In an upcoming campaign, a free copy of the guide will be given to each child five years old and younger who registers for, or renews, a library card—while quantities last.

Watch for more posts in the coming weeks on using this new guide, and when you pick up a copy, be sure to let us know what you think!

Tired of the same old ABC books?

I love discovering lost or hidden gems in my branch’s huge picture book collection. I’ve since started building piles of books for thematic displays, books for storytime I haven’t used before and books that haven’t circulated but deserve another kick at the can to get them in the hands of an enthusiastic reader.

I happened to find a picture book in the ‘C’ area of the collection that was hidden because of its smaller size: A Call for a New Alphabet by Jef Czekaj. Czekaj is a fantastic picture book author who wrote and illustrated Oink-A-Doodle-Moo (a storytime favourite) and Cat Secrets. Written in comic book format, A Call for a New Alphabet is about the letter X who is unhappy with this role in the alphabet and decides to rally the letters to create a new order for the alphabet. It’s a silly story with lots of laughs that teaches kids about the alphabet but also grammar, spelling and general language usage. It’s a unique take on your typical ABC book. 

After reading this unconventional take on the ABC book, I went searching through the collection to see what other related gems I could find. Below are 4 ABC picture books that definitely deserve more attention for their interesting way of teaching all about the alphabet. 

Backseat A-B-See by Maria van Lieshout
After learning that her young son loved reading road signs, Van Lieshout wrote a book that associates each letter of the alphabet with a road sign. The solid black backgrounds on each page with white road lines make each road sign pop with bold colour. Some of the signs are specifically American but there are lots of relevant ones for Canadian kids, too. 

An Annoying ABC written by Barbara Bottner & illustrated by Michael Emberley
This book opens in a classroom setting where chaos quickly ensures – it’s not the ABC’s that are annoying but the children are to each other. The letters of the alphabet are introduced through the names of the children as they bicker and fight, but the book thankfully ends with a group apology. A great book for sneaking in lessons about respect for and getting along with others while learning the alphabet. 

Caveman:  A B.C. Story by Janee Trasler
This book features bold, colourful artwork and introduces children to the alphabet through the eyes of a caveman. Even with only one word per page, children will easily follow this action-packed story as the caveman encounters a dinosaur, a bear, a squirrel and more, all of which he befriends by the time the reader reaches the letter Z. Simple, silly and tons of boy appeal. 

ABC ZooBorns! written by Andrew Bleiman & photographs by Chris Eastland
It’s almost impossible to resist falling in love with the sight of baby animals and this ABC book features twenty-six of the cutest I’ve ever seen. Stunning full-colour photographs are coupled with simple text that kids will easily reference to their own lives. This book is great for younger readers just learning the alphabet but also for older readers who want to discover more information about the featured animals. 

Celebrate Your Child's Freedom To Read

February 24th through March 2nd 2013 was Freedom To Read Week in Canada.  This annual event encourages Canadians of all ages, backgrounds, and reading levels to think about, acknowledge, and actively assert their intellectual freedom.  Even though this is guaranteed to all Canadian citizens under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, there still remains a strong movement towards censoring certain works of literature, and includes attempts to outright ban them from both school and public libraries alike.

The most common reasons books are considered for banning are for sexual or violent content, mature subject matter, and political content including but not limited to racial and/or ethnic discrimination

A book that is considered banned or challenged does not necessarily m
ean that it has been banned or challenged everywhere; but somewhere, at some point in history, its right to be on a library shelf has been disputed.

You may have heard about some of these well-known challenged older children and teen works such as:

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

and

Toronto Public Library's current city-wide book club's "One Book" selection Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

What you may have not realized though, is that many children's picture books have also been challenged by individuals, parents, communities, and/or political groups.  Many that are on the list include themes surrounding death, homosexuality, racism, discrimination, and subject matter considered too mature for children (alluding to the molesting/abuse of a child by a family member/neighbor etc.)  While some may be found amongst the picture books, many of these works are generally shelved in the "Parents" section of the library.

In appreciation of banned and challenged books, and as a small way of celebrating our freedom to read, here are just some of the rather surprising picture books I have stumbled upon, that have been challenged over the years:

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

Reason: For "being an allegorical political commentary".  The Lorax pleads to the Once-ler to stop cutting down the trees, and these comments "criminalize the forestry industry" and brainwashes children into thinking politically "left". 

 

 

 

Where's Waldo by Martin Hanford

Reason: Tanning female with partially exposed breast on the beach.  In the new editions, the sunbathing female  is wearing her bikini top as opposed to the original illustration where the top was laying on the beach towel in front of her.

 

 

 

In The Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

Reason: The little boy is naked.  Some teachers reacted by covering the "offending" parts with marker or tape.

 

 

 

I Have To Go by Robert Munsch

 Reason: Many of Robert Munsch's books have been challenged throughout the years, including The Paper Bag Princess, I Love You Forever, and Thomas' Snowsuit.  This particular work was challenged due to the wording of the one repeating line "I have to go pee!", as it was found to be distasteful and inappropriate language for children to be exposed to.  In some editions, it was changed to "I have to go to the bathroom!"

 

The Story of Babar, The Little Elephant by Jean de Brunhoff

 

Reason: For promoting colonialism, and being "politically and morally offensive"

 

 

and finally, the one that may just shock you the most:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr.

Reason: The Texas Board of Education removed all copies from the  library shelves in their schools, because they believed the author had written books for adults that contained "very strong critiques of capitalism and the American system."  The author they believed Bill Martin Jr. to be, was an author of a similar name, Bill Martin; a philosophy professor from Chicago.  Both school board members who motioned for the books to be removed from the shelves had not read the book themselves. 

Bill Martin Jr.'s co-author Michael Sampson, stated that the motion was "a new low in terms of the group that's supposed to represent education having such faulty research and making such a false leap without substantiating what they're doing."  Read more about it here

 

So even though Freedom to Read Week is 'technically' over, the right to encourage reading and your right to intellectual freedom never is.  So celebrate your child's love of reading and check out or re-read one of the above mentioned picture books, or visit freedomtoread.ca and browse some challenged titles. 

Know a challenged children's picture book that is not listed here or on freedomtoread.ca?  Post it here! I would love to add it to my list!

Happy Reading! :)

 



Reading tips for hockey parents

"The only way a kid is going to practice is if it's total fun for him ... and it was for me. " 

Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky's statement about practising hockey applies equally to reading.

 

Parents register their children for sports, drive them to try-outs, games, and tournaments and support them from the stands. Parental support for reading may involve borrowing books to read at home, supporting struggling readers, letting children choose books they like, and making reading fun by choosing appropriate, interesting and varied reading materials.

Here are a few books with a hockey theme for children:

The Mighty Tim Horton is one of several excellent hockey books by Mike Leonetti.

    

  Le Hockey is a new book from a publisher in Montreal.

 

Many children's fiction and non-fiction titles with a connection to hockey are available.

 

 

Selling the Dream, subtitled "How hockey parents and their kids are paying the price for our national obsession," is an interesting read for parents.

 

 

 The library has instructional books on hockey for coaches and trainers.  

 

 

Whatever sport or hobby your child pursues, there's time to fit in some reading on the journey. Hockey players dangle, snipe, celebrate and read books!! 

 

 

Princess in overdrive

Are you searching for a princess book for a young reader in your home? 

Olivia and the Fairy Princesses with its story of Olivia's search for an escape from the world of sparkly, pink princesses may act an an antidote to the princess mania.  My son who is four enjoys Olivia's adventures.

If your young reader is searching for princess reading options, choices are available.

 

 The Princess Pearl books by Emma Thomson have a conventional story line.

The books are pink and sparkly and include a fake pearl.

 

 

 

 

The Very Fairy Princess Follows Her Heart by Julie Andrews portrays an action-oriented princess.  This is a series so your reader will find lots to enjoy. 

 

 

 

 

In The Twelve Dancing Princesses,  girls wear their shoes out by dancing.

In a fractured fairytale by  Debbie Allen, Brothers of the Knight, twelve brothers wear their running shoes out every night.

 My children enjoyed traditional and fractured fairytales.

 

 

 

 

The Little Princess Stories by Tony Ross are a cute option for the youngest readers in your home.

 My teenaged daughter was a figure skater who wore sparkly outfits and is now a hockey player.  She enjoyed books from The Royal Diaries series.

 

 

 

 

 

To further a reader's knowledge of native Canadian culture, reading Sootface: An Ojibwa Cinderella Story is a good place to begin.  The Mi'kmaw people have a version called The Rough-Faced Girl available online. 

David Shannon, author of the No, David! series, has illustrated a version.

 

 

 

Kitchen Princess is a series of ten graphic novels which older readers may enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The real world has many princesses and queens so it is worth taking a look at non-fiction books.  African Princess: The amazing lives of Africa's Royal Women is one of numerous choices available.

 In grades 5 to 8, my son was not interested in reading fiction but  enjoyed non-fiction books about historical figures similar to the above title.

 

 

 

 

Search OverDrive on the Toronto Public Library website for books about princesses to download or read streaming online.

An online source with multilingual options is the International Children's Digital Library.  Children may read The Princess of Aram in Hebrew, The Golden Princess in Mongolian, The Ugly Princess in English, and The tale of Sigismunda and Krpimir in English and Croatian.

While your reader is requesting princess books,  go with the flow, enjoy the pink and sparkly. Show your reader that options are available and that not all princesses wear pink.

 

 

Ideas for 15 MINUTES OF FUN!

Every January, Toronto Public Library celebrates Family Literacy Day. This year’s theme, '15 Minutes of Fun', promotes the concept that taking 15 minutes each day to read or try out an activity can greatly improve a child’s literacy skills. This year, Family Literacy Day takes place on January 27th, but many library branches across the city will have activities and events leading up to the big day.

Fifteen minutes isn’t a lot of time to really dig into a hefty novel and not all children have the same kind of reading habits and interests. Sometimes ‘snack-sized’ reading can be less intimidating (especially for reluctant readers) and more light-hearted or fun. The library has many kinds of books that can satisfy the reading snack hunger. 

‘Cool’ information - compendiums of information that speak to relevant and high-interest topics
My pick: Spider-Man: Inside the World of Your Friendly Neighborhood Hero

Trivia - a collection of interesting facts, sometimes with a specific theme or sometimes just a hodgepodge of information
My pick: Quiz Whiz: 1,000 Super-Fun Mind-Bending Totally Awesome Trivia Questions

Jokes – irresistibly funny and yes, still counts as reading
My pick: Just Joking: 300 Hilarious Jokes, Tricky Tongue Twisters, and Ridiculous Riddles

Short Nonfiction – a growing category in kid lit: short, usually hilarious or touching, true stories. Think David Sedaris for kids…
My pick: Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka

Books of Lists – similar to trivia but the information in these books are organized into lists
My picks: Scholastic Canada Book of Lists 1 & 2