It's Never Too Early to Foster a Love of Reading!

• Begin reading to your child at birth.
• Let your baby play with the book.
• If the baby sometimes doesn’t seem interested, put the book away and try again another time. Raising a reader takes time and patience.
• Be animated. Use different voices and facial expressions as you read. Make it fun!
• Choose books that use word repetition, rhymes, and predictable text.
• Decide on a regular time to read each day; even five or ten minutes gets children ready to read on their own.
• Before reading the book together, have your child take a “picture walk” through the book and make predictions about the story.
• Let your child turn the pages and point to words as you read.
• Encourage a love of words by playing rhyming and word games, singing silly songs, or writing stories together.

Satisfy Your Child’s Curiosity

• Choose books that support your child’s interests, from dinosaurs to wizards.
• Reread your child’s favorite books whenever asked. After several retellings, ask your child to tell you the story.
• Involve your child in the reading by asking questions! Ask “what” questions; avoid questions that require a simple “yes” or “no” answer. You might ask, “What do you think will happen next?”
• Remember to give your child time to think about the question and respond.
• Take your child to the library to check out books and attend story hours.
• If your child shows an interest in a picture either by talking about it or pointing to it, follow up immediately by asking questions and letting your child answer.
• Most important, have fun reading to your child!