Born to Read - What is it?

Today was our Born to Read storytime, for infants and babies. I wanted to post some information about early literacy and what books you could read to your child. All of this information can be found on the American Library Association's webpage for Born to Read. If you ever have any questions, please feel free to ask Barbara or I. We're happy to help.

Early literacy is what children know about reading before they can actually read.

Researchers agree that children are more likely to become good readers if they start school with three sets of accomplishments:

Oral language skills and phonological awareness: Children are able to comprehend and to express themselves with a wide range of words. They are able to distinguish the sounds as well as the meaning of words.

Print awareness and letter knowledge: Children have learned that the black and white marks on a page represent spoken words. They are able to name the letters of the alphabet.

Motivation to learn and appreciation for literary forms: Children have been exposed to a wide variety of literary experiences and have learned to love books and stories.

Some Good Books to Share (Click on the link to go to the LCPL catalog!)

Baker, Keith. Big Fat Hen. Harcourt, 1994.
Bang, Molly. Ten, Nine, Eight. Greenwillow, 1983.
Barton, Byron. My Car. Greenwillow, 2001.
Brown, Margaret Wise. Goodnight Moon. Illustrated by Clement Hurd. HarperCollins, 1947.
Cousins, Lucy. Maisy Drives the Bus. Candlewick, 2001.
Crews, Donald. Freight Train. Greenwillow, 1978.
Dunrea, Olivier. Gossie and Gertie. Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
Fleming, Denise. Mama Cat Has Three Kittens. Henry Holt, 1998.
Fleming, Denise. The Everything Book. Henry Holt, 2000.
George, Kristine O'Connell. Book!. Illustrated by Maggie Smith. Clarion, 2001.
Hill, Eric. Where's Spot? Putnam, 1980.
Hindley, Judy. Eyes, Nose, Fingers, and Toes. Illustrated by Brita Granstrom. Candlewick, 2002.
Intrater, Roberta Grobel. Peek-a-Boo, You. Scholastic/Cartwheel, 2002.
Isadora, Rachel. Peekaboo Morning. Putnam, 2002.
Keats, Ezra Jack. Peter's Chair. Putnam, 1967.
Martin, Bill, Jr. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Illustrated by Eric Carle. Holt, 1984.
Meyers, Susan. Everywhere Babies. Illustrated by Marla Frazee. Harcourt, 2001.
Opie, Iona, ed. My Very First Mother Goose. Illustrated by Rosemary Wells. Candlewick, 1996.
Orozco, José-Luis. Diez Deditos=Ten Little Fingers: and Other Play Rhymes and Action Songs from Latin America. Illustrated by Elisa Kleven. Dutton, 1997.
Oxenbury, Helen. Tom and Pippo Read a Story. Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Rosen, Michael. We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Little Simon, 1997.
Wells, Rosemary. Max's Bedtime. Dial, 1998.
Williams, Vera. "More, More, More," Said the Baby: Three Love Stories Greenwillow, 1990.
Wilner, Isabel. The Baby's Game Book. Illustrated by Sam Williams. Greenwillow, 2000.
Zelinsky, Paul O. The Wheels on the Bus: A Book with Parts that Move. Dutton, 1990.