As your youngster begins to read, it is important to continue to read together. Reading aloud can become a duet. The book suggestions below, recommended by Karen Kelly Grasso, Children’s Librarian at Jefferson Campus of Cleveland Public Library, should help you as your youngster takes the first steps as an independent reader.
You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You
by Mary Ann Hoberman
Mary Ann Hoberman, the former Children’s Poet Laureate, wrote a series of short books for very young readers. The texts, in verse, are set up to have a child read with an adult, with one column for the child, one column for the adult, and some text to be read in unison. The combination of the rhyming text and alternating lines encourage the new reader. This book is also one of a series that includes fables, tall tales and Mother Goose.
The Thank You Book
by Mo Willems
Each book in the Elephant and Piggy series is written as a dialog between two friends. The child can read one of the characters while the adult can read the other. The stories are always funny and gently convey important life lessons. PRO TIP: Read the book more than once and alternate who is Gerald (the elephant) and who is Piggy.
I Want My Hat Back
by Jon Klassen
This story, told in dialog, tells of a bear’s search for his missing hat. The bear repeats his question while the animals that he encounters answer in increasing detail. The structure gives a new reader instant fluency and success and the twist in the story gives the young reader a real kick.
Dinosaurs Before Dark
by Mary Pope Osborne
This is the first book in the Magic Treehouse series. It sets the stage for the widely ranging stories in the series. The simple sentence structure and plain language makes this a great introduction to chapter books. The young reader can alternate reading with a parent paragraph by paragraph, page by page, or chapter by chapter. The presence of a brother and sister as protagonists avoids the accusation “This is a book for boys/girls.”
Read together and log your minutes at clevelandreads.com, visit cpl.org for more resources.