Reading with friends is fun, too!

1) Read aloud to your children every day.

2) Introduce children to books that are a bit above their reading level.

Challenge your children with bigger themes and topics. Introduce them to educational books like Wordly Wise 3000 that contain riddles, crossword puzzles, etc. to enhance their vocabulary skills.

3) Encourage your children to read – to you, a sibling, the family pet, even a stuffed animal!

It is great practice for children learning to read. Often they feel more comfortable reading a story they’ve heard a few times before. Help them with difficult words if they ask, or just let them puzzle it out! It is also great practice for children who can’t read yet. Making up their own stories to go along with pictures is a fun and imaginative exercise.

4) Allow your children to interrupt the story.

If they question or comment, that’s great! Children make connections constantly. Defining new words and explaining illustrations helps children make sense of the word around them. However, constant interruptions can upset the flow of the story. Maybe ask your child save all questions for the end of each page.

5) Give children time to look at the pictures.

You may be impatient to get on with the story, but your child isn’t! Let them take as long as they want to look at pictures and figure them out. Visuals play a huge role in helping children learn and understand. Pictures will also show your children different life styles and cultures that s/he may be unfamiliar with.

6) Take children to the library!

As a child, I loved going to the library. I always bee-lined for the children’s corner and chose new books based on pretty pictures and colors. Set up library trips where a few hours can be spent browsing the shelves or just sitting on cushions, looking at new stories.

7) Choose books that you want to read.

Often children want to hear the same stories over and over, or are hooked on one series in particular (I always loved The Magic Schoolbus). Don’t feel bad suggesting different titles or picking out books you like at the library and bookstore. It’s great to let children choose, but it’s good to take turns too.

8 ) Choose books that are meaningful.

Let your child know when books are special to you. Your five-year old may not care today, but when s/he is older, remembering that “The Crystal Mountain” was Mom’s favorite book and “Horton Hears a Who” was Uncle’s will mean a lot.

9) Read with your children together, and separately.

It’s great to read to your children together, and to make family time out of reading. It’s also important to read to children separately. Make time for your three year-old, and six year-old. Different books are suitable for different ages, and each child will love to have special time with just you.

10) Take children to reading nights.

If your local library or community center has reading nights for children, try to go! Group reading gives children ground for starting friendships, sharing fun stories, and learning patience and tolerance. Besides, what fun memories!

]]> http://www.picpocketbooks.com/ten-tips-for-meaningful-reading-with-kids/feed/ 6 http://www.picpocketbooks.com/where-do-stories-come-from/ http://www.picpocketbooks.com/where-do-stories-come-from/#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:54:11 +0000 Eva http://www.picpocketbooks.com/?p=737 Well, lots of places! In a recent interview, author Andrea Cheng shares what inspired her to write Tire Mountain:

Andrea Cheng

Now in the iTunes App Store!

“I ride my bicycle to work every morning, and I used to pass a tire store on my way.  I saw a little boy playing on the tires almost every day.  Even though this corner is really a blighted area, the little boy always seemed so happy with his home.  I named him Aaron Jacob Johnson and made up a story of how he used his tires to make a playground.”

Tire Mountain is Andrea’s first book to be available on an iphone platform. She is happy with the results!

“When I saw [the app], I was most impressed. I especially love the way that the dialogue is read. It is full of expression and drama. In addition, the pictures look vibrant and intense.”

Do you make up stories sometimes? Where do they come from?

Now in the iTunes App Store!

“I’m very excited that my book WHAT A PEST! will be reaching and teaching the iPhone generation! Who would have thought when I entered the children’s book industry 25 years ago that my books would make their way into the pocket of readers? Sharing books on the iPhone is another way to expose children to books and as an author-illustrator that is my goal! I am thrilled to be part of a very new industry and hope some of my other books are offered in this format.

Maryann Cocca-Leffler

My book WHAT A PEST! is an early reader about two sisters. The older one thinks the younger one is a pest but in the end they realize how important they are to each other. The story itself is loosely based on personal experiences on many levels. I have a younger sister…and I also have two daughters. Growing up, my sister, Diane, was a pest! She was always hanging around with me and my friends and getting in the way. We also sang together and one time she got the chicken pox before a performance. By blending many ideas and watching my own daughters struggle with sisterhood, I came up with the story WHAT A PEST! I hope you enjoy it!

PS: I knew then, as I know now, that sisters have a special bond. I’m happy to say, my sister and I are best friends!”

What about you? Do you have a sister who is a pest, or your best friend, or both? We’d love to hear your stories!

You can find Maryann at www.maryanncoccaleffler.com.

An article in Publishers Weekly addresses these questions and more: are publishers ready? What about piracy? How will rights be handled? Will libraries become obsolete?

The article summarizes a forum held by the Children’s Book Council on “The Current State of E: Publishing in the Digital Age.”  One panelist states, “E-books add a fantastic functionality to what a book is. Adding interactivity to that experience is also very interesting. And thinking about ways they can be fun [is important], because it’s for children.”

There’s a lot of potential! What do you think?

For many parents, it can be difficult to find a story that both the child and the parent will enjoy reading, especially since young children love reading stories over and over again.  One great children’s book that is sure to please both young and old readers alike is Ed Emberley’s Go Away, Big Green Monster!.

Each page in Go Away, Big Green Monster! reveals another portion of the monster’s face.  However, once the monster is shown in all of his green glory, the reader must now tell him to “go away!”  As the book finishes, each interactive page commands another body-part of the monster to “go away!”.   Young children, as young as two-years-old, love repeating the adult reader’s words as the monster vanishes.  Older children are able to read the story by themselves, as the words are simple and part of a basic vocabulary.

Go Away, Big Green Monster! is sure to entertain any child, and parents will never be disappointed to read this story again and again.

Inexpensive copies of this hardcover book can be found on Amazon.