Teaching your child how to read is highly helpful for his or her cognitive and emotional development. Besides this, it allows the child’s creativity to further flourish and help them with their thinking processes, decision making and social skills as they grow up. To exercise the vocabulary and grammatical skills at each stage of development of your child, reading appropriate books is a sure way to do so.
Below is a list of books perfect for each stage of development of your child:
Ages 0-3
Baby Animal Farm by Karen Blair
This fun book is about a group of children interacting with different animals in a farm. The book allows your toddler to learn the different sounds animals make, helping them distinguish what the animals look and sound like.
Backseat A-B-See by Maria van Luesgiyt
In a yellow car, a child sitting at the backseat learns about the alphabet through the use of road signs he sees through the drive trip. This book is perfect for your child who is learning about the alphabet and additional road signs for when he or she gets older.
Crabby Crab by Chris Raschka
The main character called Crabby Crab is not happy with the way he looks but the readers counter that. Having “eight beautiful legs” is a sure feat! Show your child the value of loving others through this short and humorous illustrative book.
100 Things That Make Me Happy by Amy Schwartz
This colorful book is great to read out loud to your toddler as it shows the simple things in life that makes a person happy. With its rhythmic way of writing, “100 Things That Make Me Happy” allows exploration and clever use of language.
Ages 4-6
Have You Seen My Dragon? by Steve Light
A modern day adventure tale! A boy’s pet dragon gets lost in the busy city of New York and his quest is to find him. Let your child follow the boy on his journey through various parts of the city and join him count from numbers 1-20!
Lift the flap: Fairy Tales by Roger Priddy
What better way to enhance your child’s reading abilities by helping them read the classic fairy tales you also grew up on? This book contains a collection of fairy tales that can be read in flaps allowing you to reminisce such stories with your child.
Mix It Up! by Hervé Tullet
Your child may have recognized some of the colors around them already but wait and see their wonder once they see how other colors come from the combination of two! In this book, they’ll get to mix new colors together but don’t worry about the mess, there are very simple instruction included inside so you won’t have to worry about that carpet.
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Very simple and entertaining, this book is about the growth of a chicken as it hatches from an egg.
With the creative way the words are written in the book, your child will be able to learn how to pronounce properly the words being highlighted in the text.
Ages 7-12
As an Oak Tree Grows by G. Brian Karas
As An Oak Tree Grows depicts the reality of today. The story starts with a boy who planted an acorn. The acorn eventually grew into an Oak Tree and survived for 2 centuries until it was harmed by lightning. The story shows the various events in time the Oak Tree experiences as the world evolves. The old Oak Tree gets turned into furniture and a new Oak Tree soon grew.
How Big Were Dinosaurs? by Lita Judge
For some stroke of science, let your child discover the great dinosaurs who have existed a long time ago. Each dinosaur is accompanied by a thrilling illustration and an entertaining description to awake your child’s scientific wonder!
Yours Sincerely, Giraffe by Megumi Iwasa, illustrated by Jun Takabatake
A story about everlasting friendship that courses through the distance. Written by Japanese author, Megumi Iwasa, this book is filled with beautiful illustrations and is great way to introduce your child to Japanese literature.
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
A fun and light read. Follow the bear on his journey to find his lost hat but don’t be fooled, the hat can be easily seen by the reader as the book starts. A humorous experience indeed!
Reading doesn’t have to be boring for your growing child. There are plenty of books available that provide both entertainment and information that surely your child won’t sleep on. Help them start early on their reading and it will be just a breeze for them soon!
Bibliography:
“20 Fantastic Books for Kids Learning to Read.” Delightfulchildrensbooks.com, 14 May 2012, delightfulchildrensbooks.com/2012/05/14/learn-to-read/. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.
“Books As Gifts.” Readingrockets.org, 2014, www.readingrockets.org/pdfs/2014_Holiday%20Gift%20Guide.pdf. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.
Levenson, Ellie. “11 best books for 4 to 7-Year-Olds.” Independent.co.uk, 13 Oct. 2016, www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/kids/best-books-for-4-to-7-year-olds-a7358921.html. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.