Tips for Reading to Toddlers

Recently a library patron asked me for book suggestions for her very active toddler. She wanted to read with her child to introduce her to books and encourage her love of reading but was having trouble getting through any picture book with her. Reading with toddlers can be challenging. If you have an active toddler, here are some tips for creating a positive reading experience:

· Have realistic expectations. Toddlers have very short attention spans and are easily distracted. You may be able to read to them for only a few minutes, and that’s okay. Just put the book down and try it again later, or try another one later.

· Choose your reading time carefully. Toddlers are busy little people, playing, exploring their world and constantly on the move. Snack time, after bath time, before bed, after a walk or a long playing session are all good times to try a story.

· Choose books that you and your toddler will enjoy. Choose books based on their interests, or let them choose books for themselves at the library or bookstore. Make sure the books are ones you don’t mind reading multiple times, as toddlers may want to read the same favorite book (or even the same few pages) over and over again.

· Bring the stories to life. Use exaggerated, funny voices, gestures and sounds while reading. Act the story out or use puppets to tell the story or even sing it!

· Encourage participation. Your child can help you act out the story, join in on repeated words or phrases, or find objects in the illustrations as you read together.

· Choose books that let your toddler explore/invite action. Pop-up books, books with flaps, touch-and-feel books, and board books all allow toddlers to explore through action - lifting flaps, feeling different textures, or turning pages.

· Read often. Let reading become part of your regular routine, even if it’s only for a few minutes a day, so that reading becomes an expected part of the day and a fun family tradition.

Guest post by Allison C.

The Summer Nick Taught His Cats to Read

One of the first questions librarians ask when someone is looking for a book recommendation is “What are you interested in?” Finding materials at the correct reading level that also contain appropriate content is very important, but none of that will be of any use if the person reading, or being read to, isn’t interested in the story or the topic.

The Summer Nick Taught His Cats to Read, by Curtis Manley and Kate Berube, is a perfect example of how urging someone to read won’t get you very far until you offer something that will capture the heart and the imagination of the pupil. Nick has two cats, Verne and Stevenson. They’re the best of friends, and spend all of their time together. But when Nick decides to teach them to read, the cats aren’t so sure it’s a good idea. Nick makes flash cards, and the fish-shaped one catches Verne’s attention, but Stevenson is still unconvinced. Eventually Verne is reading on his own, and even gets his own library card, but Stevenson continues to do his best impersonation of Grumpy Cat. When Nick discovers a hidden collection of pirate drawings under Stevenson’s bed, Nick and Verne know just what to do. They create a story to go along with the drawings, and, for the first time ever, Stevenson sits and listens. Soon they’re all at the library together, choosing more books, and later acting out the stories they’ve read, all over the house.

We’re often surprised when one child in a family is a voracious reader, and another could hardly seem to care less. Reluctant readers (and listeners) sometimes require a little extra effort on our parts, but trust me, that effort is worth it. While not all children, or adults, for that matter, will always love reading, starting with a book that will truly interest them is paramount to success. We can offer lots of recommendations if you're ever in need of them!

Guest post by Bridget W.

What Are Early Literacy Skills?

Research has shown that there are six early literacy skills that give children a head start in reading readiness. These skills are print motivation, print awareness, narrative skills, vocabulary, letter knowledge, and phonological awareness. Print motivation, which is being interested in and enjoying reading, and is a skill that can be developed from birth. Here are some ideas to encourage that love of books and reading in your child:

Read aloud, early and often! The primary goal of reading aloud to children in the first three years of life is to encourage them to love books. Keep books in the car and diaper bag to be ready to read anytime, anywhere. Keep books in your child’s toy area for your child to explore.

Keep storytime informal. Young children have short attention spans and can sit still for only a few minutes. It’s okay to not finish a book if your child gets fussy or isn’t enjoying it. Reading shouldn’t be forced. You want your child to associate books with happiness, not stress. Reading should be fun for both of you!

Read at your child’s pace. Some kids will zoom through a book and others will want to spend lots of time on each illustration. It’s okay to skip pages or read the same page (or look at the same picture) over and over again. You might even want to take a picture walk through the book, just looking at and talking about the illustrations. You can tell the story or have the child tell the story from the pictures.

Choose age-appropriate books, and let your child help choose when he/she is old enough. Babies like books with large, high-contrast pictures and very simple stories. Babies learn through touch and will enjoy board books and touch-and-feel books like Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt or the That’s Not My… series by Fiona Watt. Toddlers like books about animals, nursery rhymes and other rhyming books, and books with repetitive language. They also like interactive books like lift-the-flap and pop-up books. Preschoolers will enjoy more advanced books with longer stories and a plot. They love silly or funny books like Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie series.

Last but not least, let your child see you reading on a regular basis. Babies and young children are very interested in what their parents are doing and want to imitate them. Seeing you read can motivate your child to want to read too!

Guest post by Allison C. 

5 Tips for Summer-Reading Success

With summer quickly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about how you’re going to keep your kids interested in reading this summer. Here are some tips to encourage a summer full of reading:

1. Keep books everywhere—in the playroom, in the bedroom, in the car. The more accessible books are, the more they’ll get read.

2. Visit the library often. You can even make it a part of your weekly routine, so your kids know that they’ll go on a certain day each week.

3. Allow your children to choose at least some of the library books you get. Sure, you may have some books that you’d really like them to read, but make sure that they have a chance to pick out some on their own, too. Kids are far more excited to read books that they have chosen for themselves.

4. Read books in front of your children. You are your children’s biggest role model. If they see you reading for fun and enjoying it, they’re more likely to want to read as well. 

5. Join the library’s Summer Reading Club. Our club offers some pretty awesome incentives for reading over the summer. Check back next week for more details on this year’s Summer Reading Club!

You're Not Alone: Reading Frustration Affects the Best of Us!

At the library, I hear lots of parents of little ones lamenting about the fact that their kids will not sit still for stories—not even just one. Though this must be frustrating for parents who are eager to pass along a love of books to their kids, it does not mean that their kids are wild, disinterested, destined to be reading failures, or any of the million other conclusions that discouraged parents might consider. The truth is that kids, especially babies and toddlers, have really short attention spans. That’s just how they’re wired. It’s completely normal for them to want to be up and dancing around, rather than nestled sweetly into our laps for a story.

If you’ve ever joined us for one of our Baby or Toddler Storytimes, you’re a firsthand witness to the fact that these little humans are not able to sit for a long period of time. That’s why we do all of the songs, fingerplays, and dancing that we do; it’s a necessity! We also understand that when we’re reading, kids are going to be walking/crawling around and not seeming to be paying a bit of attention to us. And that’s perfectly acceptable!

If you happen to have one of those normal kids who doesn’t want to sit still for a book, read one anyway. You’ll be surprised at how much your children will get from the book, even when they’re playing across the room and appear to be completely tuning you out. Another great way to develop an affinity for books is to just keep them everywhere—in the toy box, on the bookshelf (The best is one that’s accessible to little hands and where you keep some books face-out, so kids are drawn to the pictures on the covers.), in the diaper bag, in their car seat, etc.

Finally, don’t worry! I know it’s easier said than done, but if you’re exposing your children to books often, you’re doing them a world of good. You may not be seeing the fruits of your labor now, but you will…eventually. J

Start Early!

When a child learns to love books at an early age, it paves the way for a lifelong interest in reading. As a parent, there are many things that you can do to foster that enjoyment of books, or print motivation. Here are a few things that can help:

- Get your child involved in reading by having her say repeated phrases throughout the book and asking her questions while you read.

- Don’t force your child to read when she’s not in the mood. If you have to cut short a book, you can always return to it later. You want to make all of her early experiences with books positive ones.

- Keep books everywhere—in the playroom, in your child’s room, on bookshelves, in toy boxes, in your diaper bag, in the car. You can never have too many books around!

- Even if it gets boring for you, read your child’s favorite book to her as many times as she wants. That repetition is great for her growing brain.

- Expand and change your book selection at home by getting books from the library.

Doing what you can to build a solid foundation during the early years will really have a positive impact on your child’s reading down the road!

Follow Their Lead

Print motivation, defined as a child’s interest in and enjoyment of books and reading, is an important literacy skill for children to develop in order to become successful readers. That’s right; something as simple as making reading enjoyable can have a huge impact on your child’s reading success.

One way to foster your child’s print motivation is to make sure that when you read together, your child is in the right frame of mind—alert, not too tired, not too active. Reading often is certainly a key component to reading success, but when reading to your youngster, quality is more important than quantity. It’s normal to want to make sure to read for those recommended twenty minutes each day, but if your child is resistant, it’s better to not force it. Instead, read for shorter amounts of time throughout the day—even thirty seconds is okay, if that’s what your child’s mood/behavior dictates. Research has shown that if the interaction around books is negative, with impatient words and negative feelings, then the child will associate reading with a negative feeling. This could have long-term effects on your child’s reading success. So, the more you and your child share books and talk, the better, but just make sure that you’re doing it when it can be a positive experience for everyone!

Play with a Purpose!

 

When promoting early literacy, the five practices are key—talking, reading, writing, singing, and playing. Playing is one thing that, as parents, you are constantly doing with your children. Thank goodness, too, because that interaction is incredibly important on so many levels. Even though play of any kind is beneficial, you can target certain areas of development by playing with a purpose in mind. Here are some ideas to reinforce different early literacy skills:

Phonological Awareness (hearing the smaller sounds in words): Play rhyming games with your child. Take turns thinking up words that rhyme with a chosen word. Or, play I Spy, giving clues like, “I spy something blue that rhymes with _______.”

Vocabulary: When your baby’s playing with a toy, use descriptive words to tell her what it is, how it looks, how it feels, etc. Hearing those new words will be a huge vocabulary-booster.

Print Awareness (knowing that print is everywhere and understanding that it has meaning): When you’re engaging in pretend play, make a menu for your restaurant or make labels for items in your pretend grocery store. This will help your child understand that the written words represent something else.

Letter Knowledge: Play with blocks of various color, shape, and size, and practice categorizing them. This will help your child when she starts trying to distinguish between different letters.

Narrative Skills: Act out stories together. You can even jazz it up by adding puppets or props. This is great storytelling practice for your little one.

Print Motivation (interest in/enjoyment of books and reading): Read a book using fun, silly voices. Your child will beg for more!

These activities are not only fun, but they’ll also help your little one prepare to read. So, don’t just play—play with a purpose!

New Year's Resolution # 1: Be Less Prickly

Pearl LOVES to hug.  Unfortunately for the recipients of this enthusiastic show of affection, she's a porcupine.  Tired of her friends saying, "Ouch! Thanks, Pearl. Ouch!" when they get hugs, Pearl sets out to find a way to be less prickly.  She tries pincushions (but she can't reach her back quills), a long bath (quills don't get softer), and even a quillcut (they grow back rather quickly).  Finally, inspired by a thorny rosebush and some buzzing bees, Pearl crafts the perfect dress from a rose-printed pillowcase.  Her new wardrobe choice protects her classmates from her quills and she hugs everyone...twice! 

This new year, make a resolution with your little ones to hug more often and to try being a bit less prickly.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,

he might just visit the library next week!  A very LARGE and merrily dressed version Laura Numeroff's famous mouse will be at the Centerville Library on December 12th from 4-5pm and 7-8pm.

Library programs like character visits provide your children with opportunities to practice social and fine motor skills.  Our games and crafts help prepare kids for school success by promoting cooperation, taking turns, cutting, and coloring.  Bringing books to life through character visits is another way we try to make reading an exciting, interactive and enjoyable activity for the whole family! 

Come prepared for an excited crowd and make sure to bring your camera or smart phone for a photo op with the mischievous mouse!

I'm thankful for parents who read!

As a teenager, the furthest thing from my mind was being thankful that my mother read to my siblings and I each night when we were little. Sure, I had some vague fondness for the tales of Laura Ingalls Wilder, or Pippi Longstocking, but I didn't quite grasp that simply by reading to us my mother was actually giving us a competitive edge in school, and in life.

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman calls attention to the role parents play in supporting what their children are learning from teachers in classrooms. He highlights research compiled by the Program for International Student Assessment that shows how being read to at a young age affects students' performance even into their teenage years.

According to the study, "students whose parents reported that they had read a book with their child 'every day or almost every day' or 'once or twice a week' during the first year of primary school have markedly higher scores [on international student assessments] than students whose parents reported that they had read a book with their child 'never or almost never' or only 'once or twice a month.' On average, the score difference is 25 points, the equivalent of well over half a school year."

Children are more motivated to read when the adults in their lives  value reading and share books with them.  When children enjoy reading they become better readers, learners and problem solvers for life.  Now that’s something to be thankful for!

No Power Hour

This past Monday, Centerville Library experienced a brief  power outage.  One moment the room was bustling with post-storytime activity and the next: total darkness.  A collective, "Ummmm?" could be heard as we all fumbled around blinking in the blackness.  Thankfully our generator kicked on and the power came back shortly after that, but it reminded me of a picture book appropriately titled, Blackout.

Rocco's gorgeous illustrations depict a city family using the computer, talking on the phone, watching TV, and generally being "much too busy" one summer evening. Then, suddenly, the lights go out and "nothing worked at all."  After finding candles and flashlights, the family soon becomes too hot and bored to stay cooped up inside.   They head to the rooftop where, much to their surprise, they find a "block party in the sky" illuminated by the stars and attended by all of their neighbors. 

Kick off a No Power Hour in your house by sharing this book with your kids.  Turn off computers, TV's, videogames and lights if you are REALLY adventurous.  You might rediscover an old favorite for reading aloud by flashlight, or find that candlelight charades with excited little ones are worth waiting one more day to watch that sitcom on your DVR. 

Donkey Deliveries

Can you imagine how different reading to our children would be if our only access to books was through a delivery man on a donkey?  Lending periods would seem limited in a much different way.  "You mean I have to wait THREE WEEKS until I can get another book?!"

Monica Brown's new picture book, Waiting for the Biblioburro, takes readers on a journey to a small village in South America where a little girl named Ana has only one book to her name.  She reads her cuento, or story, over and over until one day a librarian, with the help of his two burros, Alfa and Beto, brings dozens of books to her town .  Sprinkled throughout with spanish words, this story is based on the author's experience in Columbia getting to know a traveling librarian.

Share this with your budding bibliophiles and make sure to check out the last page containing spanish definitions and a bit about real traveling librarians all over the world.  I felt very humbled and grateful that I don't spend my days in a saddle smelling of donkey. 

Nudie Rudy

The premise of this comic strip-style picture book is pure hilarity.  Little Rudy escapes after a bath and, refusing to don any clothes, declares, "No dressed!"  He proceeds to streak through the house, much to the horror and amusement of his family who keep yelling, "catch that baby!" and, "Nudie Rudy!".  His tiny tushie can be seen as he runs past his big sister reading on the couch, Dad in the kitchen, and finally past Grandma and Grandpa gardening in the sunroom.

When the family finally snags Rudy, he's wearing his pants on his head, has his legs stuck through the sleeves of his shirt, and is proudly proclaiming, "Cutie Rudy!"  This is sure to tickle the funny bone of every family member with a toddler in the house.  Plus, who can resist getting to yell the word "nudie" while reading aloud?  Not me.

Big brothers don't take naps.

So says Nick, the little brother in Louise Borden's newest picture book.  This story highlights the special relationship between brothers James and Nick, and is a stand-out among other sibling books for what it does not contain.  Often, picture books portray a younger sibling as an annoyance to an older one.  Instead of this approach, Borden showcases all of the fun and loving things big brothers do for their little brothers. Nick explains, for example, that "James can read all the words in our books.  "You can be my page turner." he tells me."

The books ends with a new addition to the family, giving Nick the chance to shine as a big brother himself.  Share this book with a second sibling who is about to make the transition from a little one to a big one!

Antsy Underpants

I admit, I'm feeling a bit antsy for the library's copies of Underpants Zoo to get here.  Brian Sendelbach, the author AND illustrator, is one of our regular storytime dads and he's created exactly the kind of silly story that toddlers and preschoolers will love. 

In a zoo where animals are sporting the wildest undies imaginable, the fun really starts when a large white pair becomes infested with ants, much to the owner's dismay.  This riotous rhyming book is ideal for reading aloud and is sure to become a family (and storyteller!) favorite. 

Brian will be at the library on Monday, May 16th to talk about how he created Underpants Zoo and to sign books!  Book sales will be provided by our friends at the Dayton Mall Barnes & Noble.

My Side of the Car

Dads are silly, and sometimes stubborn, but they have a special way of indulging the wild imaginations and the sweet sassiness of their little girls.  Kate Feiffer's newest book, My Side of the Car, depicts these humorous exchanges between a father and his daughter, who insists that it isn't raining on her side of the car.  Desperate to visit the zoo, Sadie will not be deterred, even by the threat of rain.  The playful illustrations were created by none other than her own father, Jules Feiffer (author and illustrator of the riotously funny Bark, George). 

Did I mention Kate will be hanging out with us at the library next week?  She called today to say that, due to airline luggage restrictions, she wouldn't be able to sneak her father on the plane like we had hoped, but that she's really excited for her trip to Ohio.  Help us give her a warm welcome from 4-5pm on May 5th at the Centerville Library and stick around for a special book signing!

Pajama Day!

Every six weeks or so, that magic Monday roles around and you realize, "It's storytime registration day!"  Rather than stuffing little ones into coats and braving treacherous road conditions to arrive at the library with bedhead and fuzzy teeth, try our new online registration. 

All of the same guidelines apply, but now you can register at home beginning at 10:00 AM on Monday, January 10th by visiting http://www.wclibrary.info/events.  Just find the day and time that works best for you and the age range that applies to your child.  Then, enter your names and contact information and click "submit registration."

Of course, you can still visit us to use our computers, for help registering, or just to chat with your favorite storytellers.  I'm trying to institute library-wide pajama day to celebrate, but I'm not optimistic.  Whether you do get to enjoy registration morning in your PJ's, or you're logging in from work, we hope you like the online process!  Feel free to call us at 937-433-8091 (option #3) if you have questions.

Try reading a book with your child to celebrate and prepare for storytime the following week. We can't wait to see you both!

NO Problem

No, really, I’ve got a “No” problem. Would you sometimes like to magically “un-teach” your toddler this word? If you answered YES, here’s a little comic relief to share with your emphatic little tyrant.

Mimi, the mole-ish looking protagonist, finds out what happens after she says “NO.” For example, Moms are good at helping put on tricky purple jumpers, pouring milk on cereal and catching you at the bottom of the slide. Mimi’s final NO is to a hug from her mother. Don't worry, she wants to be the one giving the hug. So, while you stick it out through the "NO" phase, remember that your toddler is developing sense of self and autonomy (the silver lining: big boy/girl underwear is just around the corner). In a few years you’ll remember it fondly when he/she's in the "but-everyone-else-has-one" phase.

Tuck Me In!

This gem is perfect for those looking to bridge the gap between board books and picture books. The pages are sturdy, interactive, and simple, but not too simple. In this story your almost-ready-for-picture-books-listener gets to be the grown up who “tucks in” a variety of adorable animals beginning with a very wakeful-looking zebra.

A perfect choice for debuting tonight at bedtime. After the last page is turned, your little animal will surely be the one who needs the tucking.