In addition to being a fun way to spend time together, reading to children during their first five years of life boosts the critical brain development happening in those years in several ways. One way is that reading books simply exposes children to many more words than they would normally hear in conversations around them because books have a broader vocabulary than we use in normal conversation. Research has shown that young children who are read to just once a day will hear hundreds of thousands of more words than a child who is not.
Looking for a little incentive to stay motivated to read to your child every day? Join the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten, opens a new window reading challenge at Central Rappahannock Regional Library. See librarypoint.org/0-5, opens a new window to join the challenge, and for booklists and reading suggestions for the birth to age five crowd.
You can also get started with the children’s picture books I’ve selected below, which are especially great for building vocabulary and are available from the library.
Can You Growl Like a Bear? By John Butler
Children love to make animal noises when prompted by a question like “What does the dog say?” This book elevates that question by making the question unique for each animal: “Can you chatter like a chimp?” “Can you trumpet like an elephant?” “Can you snuffle like a panda?” The descriptive words make the text bounce, engaging children and expanding their vocabularies.
Counting to Bananas by Carrie Tillotson and illustrated by Estrela Lourenco
You can tell from the cover that this book is not simply a counting book. The goofy dancing banana says this book is going to be silly, and it is. The banana gets very frustrated waiting for “bananas” to be the star of the show, while “1 plum” and “2 figs” start off the count. Counting books are a popular choice for preschoolers, and this one distinguishes itself not only for its silliness, but also for the unique fruits that get counted: kiwi, star fruit, plantains, kumquats, and more.
Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia
Books about trucks are a favorite with children, and, with its snappy repetition, this one is written especially for the younger crowd. “With the digger we can dig dig dig. With the mixer we can mix mix mix.” Fun words such as bulldozer, crane, and concrete are in large, bold print alongside colorful illustrations of machines doing their work, making this board book a delight for the eyes and ears.
Pasta! These Names Are Fun to Say by Felice Arena and illustrated by Beatrice Cerocchi
Pasta is a favorite for many children, but do they know all the names for different kinds of pasta? With few words per page, the focus here is all on the fun names: macaroni, tortellini, gnocchi, and more. Colorful illustrations show children enjoying their pasta, helping to prepare pasta, and sharing meals with family and friends. A true celebration of this favorite food, with a pronunciation guide at the end to help the reader.
Trucky Roads by Lulu Miller and illustrated by Hui Skipp
Part identification and part imagination, Trucky Roads is sometimes serious and sometimes silly. Real trucks are identified, such as water trucks and dump trucks, monster trucks and pickup trucks. On every page, there is also some silliness: a tiger truck alongside the monster truck,and a put-down truck alongside the pickup truck. A tow truck alongside a toe truck, and a Mack Truck alongside a Steve Truck. This book is sure to check the box for truck-loving children, as well as those who like a laugh, and they won’t even know that the word play is developing their language skills.
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner and illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal
This story of a child helping to plant, tend, and harvest a garden is chock full of fun words describing what happens throughout the year. “Brittle stalks” and “rustly armfuls” describe the work of cleaning up the garden in spring. In summer, the child describes seeing “frantic ants,” pill bugs “in plated suits of armor,” and a spider who “stilt-walks.”
Darcie Caswell is Director of Youth Services at CRRL. This column originally appeared in The Free Lance-Star newspaper.
