Little Miss Grace's Book List

Emily's Balloon - Komako Sakai

We found this book on a shelf in the library and were both instantly smitten. The images and story are so sweet and magical. This was one of the first books she ever read straight through. Usually she has to work her way through a book a few pages at a time, but this one had us both captivated. It inspired me to go on a hunt for Grace's first balloon. This book is way underrated.

http://www.amazon.com/Emilys-Balloon-Komako-Sakai/dp/0811852199/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273718676&sr=8-1

How to Instill a Love of Reading in Your Toddler

Little Miss Grace loves to read. It is actually to the point of being obnoxious. She is constantly begging for us to read books. If I am sitting anywhere within her reach, she will inevitably wiggle her little booty into my lap while firmly holding my hand and pressing a book into it with a tiny "please." A few weeks ago she was shoving books in my face and grunting, so this is a major improvement. I know this stage won't last forever, so for the most part I am amusing my little bibliophile.

It could be genetics - both her parents are English Lit majors, after all. But I like to think we trained her at a young, impressionable age to love books. We have many pictures of her chewing on books, flipping through pages, and so on if you want proof.

Here is what I think has helped. Please feel free to comment and tell me what has worked/not worked for you!

1) Repeat the same books at first. We read a few books to her each day even when we got no response from her whatsoever. We also read the same rotation of books in the beginning so she got used to them and recognized them.

2) Show how books work. Explain the title page, beginning, and end and show how to turn pages. We taught LMG how to turn the page once it was read. This kept her entertained for a long time.

3) Preview new books with your baby and point out familiar parts. When introduced to a new book, LMG is uninterested at first, but after flipping through the book and previewing what is happening, she gets to anticipate and understand what is going on.

4) Repeat favorite books. Although boring for us, LMG loves rereading the same book over and over again. She is learning vocabulary from it and noticing new things each time. I imagine that with so many things that seem to change in the world, reading the same book over and over must be helpful for learning something very tangible.

5) Go to the library. If possible, go for story time. Have fun selecting books that are fun for both of you. If you don't like a book, it will likely show.

6) Pause for your child to fill in the blanks. After reading a book for the umpteenth time, chances are your child has parts of it memorized, so let your child start filling in the blanks. It is amazing to see how much has soaked in!

7) Leave the book in an easy to access place (even if this means picking up books 2-3 times a day. I think it's worth it!

Little Miss Grace will now go read books on her own for about 10-15 minutes a day. It is so fun to sneak in her room and watch her read to herself.

I realize every kid is different. This kid still cannot throw a ball even though we have tried to show her. But maybe she doesn't see enough of mom or dad throwing things around the house!