Choosing the right book can make all the difference in how much your child enjoys the time you spend reading aloud to him.
Choosing a Book for Young Children
· Book selections for this age group should focus on stimulating sight and hearing.
· Choose books with simple black and white pictures then move to colorful pictures.
· Rhyming books are important because it helps develop the ability to rhyme, which is essential to becoming a good reader.
· Books that contain repetition or are predictable are also good choices.
· Choose books that the child can relate to, usually everyday events.
· Books that focus on colors, animals, shapes, letters, and numbers are usually good choices.
· Your child may have a favorite book, read it, and then introduce something new.
Choosing a Book for School-age Children
· Always read a book yourself, before reading it aloud to your child.
· Consider the emotional and intellectual level of your child and never choose above a child’s emotional level. Occasionally you can read above their intellectual level and challenge them.
· Avoid long descriptive passages until your child is older. Mark these passages during your preread and skip or paraphrase them as you are reading.
· Readers often identify with the characters. So read books with messages about how to handle problems or that feature experiences that your child is having.
· Read non-fiction books about subjects that interests them. My son loves dinosaurs so we read many dinosaur books.
· Avoid books that are heavy with dialogue. It is hard for a listener to distinguish who is speaking.
· Don’t read a book if your child has seen the movie. It won’t keep their attention.
· A book that has won a reward isn’t necessarily a good read-aloud.
· Read books that match your child’s preferences–mystery, science fiction, adventure, but occasionally choose something new.
· You can still read picture books. Many picture books are long with higher-level dialogue.
Here are links to a couple of websites that list good choices for read-alouds by age:
http://www.bookitfamilies.com/what.html
http://nancykeane.com/rl/#Readalouds
To read my blog on why it is important to read aloud to school-age children click on the link: http://blogs.families.com/parenting.php?title=reading_aloud_to_grade_school_children&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1