Toddler Week 18

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Magical Read Aloud

Let me tell you a secret. I am addicted to picture books. I collect them, hoard them, grab them—all under the guise of buying them for my children! The truth is that although I love my picture books a lot, I love what they represent to a parent and child—that is, a gateway to a shared adventure. If you start early during the toddler years, you will raise a child with such fondness of books and lots of friends lined up on the bookshelf (or in the iPad’s library!) to get re-acquainted with whenever a moment of boredom strikes.

To make reading a much more delightful experience for your toddler, choose picture books with colorful, clear illustrations. Simple story lines of finding best friends, getting separated from mom, as well as different bed time routines are all well-received by toddlers between one and two years of age. Choose a book where the meaning is clearly expressed in the illustration to help your toddler comprehend the story better. You can always try new books, but don’t forget the old classics—a good story, after all, is timeless. You may even join the story hour at the library and allow your child to choose books that he or she would like to take home on loan.

Here are some of our family favorites:

  • Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crocket Johnson
  • Who Took the Farmer’s Hat? By Joan L Nodset
  • Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
  • The Grufallo by Julia Donaldson
  • Old Hat, New Hat by Stan and Jan Berenstain
  • I Love It When You Smile by Sam McBratney                                                                                                                                                              

If you introduce your child to a book and he or she looses interest after a page or two, try another book and reintroduce the previous book a couple of weeks later. Follow your child’s interests and answer his or her questions about the illustrations. Use the time to get to learn more about your child’s interests and passions. As you know more about these, you’ll be able to choose better books that would interest your child. Better yet, your child will have developed enough sense and taste for books to be able to choose one for himself or herself.

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