Making board books "irresistible" to toddlers....an invitation to read.

This little one LOVES books, but I have a little trick up my sleeve to get her interested in books throughout the day.  Occasionally when I walk past her little basket of books, I'll grab a few out and take them to some spot in the house and set them open, on end.  This always grabs her attention and she sits down with them and "reads" through them for a few minutes.  It's a fun and simple book invitation and a little surprise that gives her joy!!

@MamaSchool.....baby edition. A great book for babies!

This week we had a little 4 month-old fosterlove with us.  Of course she was included in Mamaschool, too!  Beck and I set up our little play gym and Beck happily and lovingly hung EVERYTHING he could find for her to look at.  :)  We also found the perfect book to prop open for her to look at.  

Ten Little Beasties is a short book that can be sung to the tune of "Ten Little Indians."  I love books that are also songs, and so do babies!  The high-contrast illustrations are perfect for tiny readers--even newborns would be captivated by this book!  My big boy loves it, too, which is a win-win!  

 We often prop up books around our babies, especially when they learn to roll on their tummies!  This allows them to see something beautiful, stimulating and interesting at their level!

We just love Ed Emberley's books!!!!

Make Your Own Library!

This summer my kids had so much fun playing library!

One day I decided to get them interested in some of the books we own in our home library that they haven't read in a while.  I gathered up a handful of different genres and set them up on our stairs.  I put animal non fiction together, biography together, fiction together, etc.

I let them each choose a couple books, and we got out their little toy cash register and they pretended to check out the other one's books!

Not only did they have fun PLAYING library, but they were also motivated to read some books they hadn't touched in a while and revisit some books from our home library!  I got to direct which books they were exposed to (because I chose them and set them out!) and I pretended to be the librarian who asked them about their interests and helped them choose some books.

Over the course of several days we made paper library cards for each of us and also signs for the shelves!  Great literacy skills!

My kids were both really excited about this pretend play and both of them subsequently set up libraries in their own rooms!

I remember playing library as a kid, too!  A great pretend-play activity that can be adapted to any age--from board books to chapter books!  Don't have a cash register to use for checkout?  Make one out of a box!  Get creative!  Remember it's about the process!  

Books to read to First Graders/ Audiobooks for First Graders

This list is a continuation from my BOOKS TO READ TO KINDERGARTENERS, so I am not going to go into a lot of discussion--click back there if you are interested in more details!  I'll go straight into the booklist of recommended titles for first graders.  Yikes!!  How do I have a first grader!  I will need to note that first grade was my favorite grade to teach in my public school days, so everything first-grade-related is so very sweet in my heart!  

I will update and add to this list as Q's first grade year goes on, so this is just the start of our list!  Stay tuned!

And now the books!!

The Oz Series by L. Frank Baum

(note--Q has listened to the Wizard of Oz and this book in the series, but I am going to wait a bit more before really getting into the series.  With some classic, beautiful series', I want to wait a little longer until she is old enough to fully appreciate and remember them.  Just a "thing" I have.)

Dragons of Crumbling Castle by Terry Pratchett

Anything written by Beverly Cleary

The "Little House" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Piper Reed Series by Kimberly Willis Holt

Freddy series by Walter R. Brooks

Encyclopedia Brown Books by Donald Sobol

Cam Jansen series by David A. Adler

The Chinese Siamese Cat by Amy Tan

Horrible Harry series by Suzy Kline

The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes

The Blossoms Series by Betsy Byars

Classics of Childhood Collection by Blackstone Audio

Humphrey Series by Betty G. Birney

The Treehouse Series (The 13-Storey Treehouse, etc) by Andy Griffiths

Homer Price by Robert McCloskey

Kid Who....series by Dan Gutman

The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

My Weird School Collection by Dan Gutman

Dragon Series by Jackie French Koller

Dragon Academy series by Kate McMullan

Lad, A Dog by A.P. Terhune

The Callahan Cousins series by Elizabeth Doyle Carey

The Paintbrush Kid/The Poppy Seeds by Clyde Robert Bulla

Best Audiobooks for Preschoolers/Older Toddlers

This list is a younger version of my AUDIOBOOKS FOR KINDERGARTENERS.  In that post, I discuss some of the nuts and bolts about using audiobooks with young children, so you might want to read it first.

The following is a list of some of our faves for the older toddler/preschool crowd.  Also, many of the books on the kindergarten list are also great for preschoolers!  I have a lot of the photos included on the Kindy list, so you can see which ones are in bagged sets with the book--best for littler guys.

I taught my little guy to use a CD player very early on (before he was even 2), so he is independent with it.  Kids love cd players and, with teaching and practice, can be very careful and independent with them, if it is expected of them.  I always had a cd player available for listening to stories in my 2 year old classroom and the children were allowed to use it on their own.  I'll try to remember to put up a post with some of the step-by-step processes we used to teach CD player independence!

Also, I strongly recommend THIS list of nature audiobooks that appeal to older toddlers and preschoolers from another of my past posts.

Also, I add to this list as we come across new titles, so it is growing all the time!

And now, our favorite audiobooks for real little ones:

Brown Bear And Friends  by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle

Curious George series by H.A. Rey

The Frances Audio Collection by Russell Hoban

It's a Tiger! by David LaRochelle

Brand-new Pencils, Brand-new Books by Diane deGroat

Bad Rats by Eric Drachman

Green Eggs and Ham and Other Servings of Dr. Seuss

Too Many Toys    and   A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

George and Martha series by James Marshall

Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa Series by Erica Silverman (these are longer, so best for older preschoolers)

Diary of A Fly by Doreen Cronin (or any of her books)

Petite Rouge Riding Hood by Mike Artell

Skippyjon Jones books by Judy Schachner

Fairy Tales by Paul Galdone (Rumpelstiltskin, etc)

Maynard Moose Series by Willy Claflin

The Little Moose Who Couldn't Go to Sleep by Willy Claflin

Little Bear Series by Else Homelund Minarik

Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller

Brave Irene by William Steig (a longer one)

Alice the Fairy by David Shannon

Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davies

One Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies

Surprising Sharks by Nicola Davies

Mole Music by David McPhail

The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone

Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson & Nancy Carpenter

Happy Birthday, Sam by Pat Hutchins

Houndsley and Catina Series by James Howe

Lulubelle and Her Bones by Vashti Farrer

Geronimo Stilton Series by Geronimo Stilton (for older preschoolers)

Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss

The Cat in the Hat and Other Dr. Seuss Favorites by Dr. Seuss

The Boy Who Cried Bigfoot! by Scott Magoon

Leroy Ninker Saddles up by Kate Dicamillo

LMNO Peas by Keith Baker

One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein

This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

Young Amelia Bedelia Series by Herman Parish

A Sick Day for Amos McGee
Bear Has a Story to Tell (both by )  by Phillip C. Stead

And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano

Murmel, Murmel, Munsch by Robert Munsch

Olivia Series by Ian Falconer

We're Going On A Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller

The Gigantic Turnip by Aleksei Tolstoy

Mouse and Mole Series by Wong Herbert Yee

Pete the Cat series by Eric Litwin

The Story Tree by Hugh Lupton

Mr. Putter and Tabby series by Cynthia Rylant

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

Young Amelia Bedelia Audio Collection by Hermann Parish

Arthur series by Lillian Hoban

Fancy Nancy Series by Jane O' Connor

The Dog Who Had Kittens by Polly Robertus

Amelia Bedelia Series by Peggy & Herman Parish

Bailey Goes Camping; Chester's Way or any/all Kevin Henkes books

Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino

Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett

The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steven Kroll

Arthur Series by Marc Brown

Bear's Toothache by David McPhail

Anna Banana and Me by Lenore Blegvad

Biscuit Series by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

Annie and Snowball Series by Cynthia Rylant

Mr. Putter and Tabby Series by Cynthia Rylant

Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel

Bear Books by Karma Wilson

Frog and Toad Series   and    The Arnold Lobel Audio Collection by Arnold Lobel
(any of his stuff is great!!)

The Bear's Bicycle by Emilie McLeod

Grin and Bear It by Leo Landry

Berenstain Bear Stories by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Zelda and Ivy series by Laura Kvasnosky

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

Wolf Pie by Brenda Seabrooke

The Teacher From The Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler (my kids loved this and weren't scared...but if your kids get scared easily, you might want to thumb through it with them first and let them see the ending....) 

Best Audiobooks for Kindergarteners...or read alouds! (updated monthly as we read more!!)

We are a couple years into our plunge deep into reading aloud and audiobooks with Quinn.  I would guess she hears 2 hours+ a day, in combination from Matt and I reading aloud to her and listening to books on cd at rest time and bedtime.

This could easily become a soapbox for me....I could rant on and on the wonderful benefits of reading aloud to young (and older!) children, and this has become a topic I've delved into--research wise--both professionally and personally for many years now.  But most of all, if I wanted to share something, it would be the list of books we've loved.

I share this list--our list--which I carefully cultivated from books I was familiar with, those recommended by read-aloud professionals (Jim Weiss, Jim Trelease, etc.) and from booklists recommended for kindergarteners--not for them to read themselves, but to hear.  These books are well above what a kindergartener can typically read (especially mine, as we are letting her slowly emerge on her own as a reader) but perfect for their comprehension level.  And I'd just about guarantee you are going to love them, too!  They are beautiful classics....timeless and perfect for developing little minds into lovers of words and stories and all-things literature.

I have to tell you I don't pay money for books.  Well, not directly.  I think the public library system is just about the best place in the world and the only place my taxes go that makes me smile.  We check out all our books from the library--books and cd's.  I max out the online request function, where you can reserve up to 15 books ahead of time, in our huge county, they can come from any of the numerous library branches and will be waiting for us on the reserve shelf, under the L section, in a glorious golden manilla envelope, complete with a lovely reminder in my email box.

So I would encourage you to mine your library.  Figure out how to use the reserve/request system.  get all these books for free!

These books are a mixture of ones we read aloud or that Quinn listened to.  Often I will first read these novels aloud and then check out the cd, so she can re-listen at her leisure.  I can't stand for her to listen to them without me because I don't want to miss these beautiful stories, so the first time we share these books it is usually with me reading them to her.  Then she relistens at bedtime and naptime.  I can't tell you what that does for reading fluency, comprehension.....I could go on and on.  But most of all, it is so immensely pleasurable.

(HERE is an article I wrote previously on the power of audiobooks......)

I would guess at this point she has heard over 200 novels since she turned 4 and we started novels with her.  I haven't done a great job of keeping up here on my education blog, though I have done photos on my personal blog, so I am going to be in the process of adding title recommendations over the course of the next few months, so check back often for updates!

And go to your library!!!!

Here they are.....our most recommended stories to hear aloud via CD or Mama/Daddy!

Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown

Elliot's Park series by Patrick Carman

Nate the Great Series by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

Peter Pan by JM Barrie

Princess Posey books by Stephanie Greene

Story of the World Series by Susan Wise Bauer

Wonder Horse by Emily Arnold McCully

Paddington by Michael Bond (any of the series....A Bear Called Paddington, More About Paddington...)

My Father's Dragon (any of the series) by Ruth Stiles Gannett

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Charlotte's Web by EB White

Stuart Little by EB White

Ivy and Bean series by Annie Barrows

Three Little Robbers by Christine Graham

Fat Bat and Swoop by Leo Landry

The Littles (series) by John Peterson

The Trumpet of the Swan by EB White

Sable by Karen Hesse

Lafcadio The Lion Who Shot Back by Shel Silverstein

Chomps, Flea, Grey Cat and Me by Bill Wallace (or any of this series)

The Magic Treehouse Series....ALL OF THEM!  by Mary Pope Osborne

Maybelle In the Soup by Katie Speck

The Boxcar Children Series by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Nate the Great Series by Marjorie Sharmat

Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing, Double Fudge, Superfudge, Fudge-a-mania, any from this series by Judy Blume

Freckle Juice by Judy Blume

Animal Rescue Team Series by Sue Stauffacher

The McBroom books (all of them!) by Sid Fleisch

Gooney Bird Jones Collection by Lois Lowry

The Clementine Series by Sara Pennypacker

Junie B. Jones Series by Barbara Park

Fancy Nancy Series by Jane O' Connor

*The Best Christmas Pageant Ever By Barbara Parks (with some editing of the language)

Winnie the Pooh Series by A.A. Milne

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

*The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindren

Tumtum and Nutmeg Series by Emily Bearn

Dick King-Smith Books (Aristotle, Babe, Ace, The Lollypop Series (SOOO GOOD), George Speaks, The Water Horse (perfect for boys, especially!), Funny Frank, The Twin Giants)

Bed and Biscuit Series by Joan Carris

The Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Pinkwater

The Buddy Files Series by Dori Hillestad Butler

Little Horse by Betsy Byars

A to Z Mysteries (26 total!) by Ron Roy

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Series by Betty MacDonald

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Egg's Surprise by Betsy Byars

Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson

Tales from Cultures Near And Far by Jim Weiss (cd only)

Mole Music by David McPhail

Arthur Chapter Books by Mark Linn-Baker

Geronimo Stilton Series by Geronimo Stilton

Toys Go Out by Emily Jenkins

The Little Match Girls by Marina Orsini

The Little Moose Who Couldn't Go to Sleep by Willy Claflin (or any of his audiobooks!)

Magic Schoolbus Series Audiobooks by Joanna Cole

William Steig stories (all of them!)

More Perfect Than the Moon by Patricia MacLachlan (any in this series--they go in order)

Bless This Mouse by Lois Lowlry

The Twits; The Minpins; The Magic Finger or any other Roald Dahl books

Cam Jansen series by David Adler

How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

Starring Prima!: The Mouse of the Ballet Jolie by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Alice in Wonderland Series by Lewis Carroll

The Doll People by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin

Ralph the Magic Rabbit by Adam Frost

Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss

Lulubelle and Her Bones by Vashti Farrer

Leroy Ninker Saddles Up by Kate Dicamillo

Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Racoon by Kate Dicamillo

Bink and Gollie, Best Friends Forever by Kate Dicamillo

Any of the Mercy Watson series by Kate Dicamillo

American Girl Series (some people shy away from these because they don't want to get into the whole doll crazy....the books are pretty fabulous historical fiction that we learn so much from, so we chose to just not tell Quinn the dolls exist...and if she discovers them, she is most welcome to save her money up to buy one!)

*Good Christmas Reads