la vie des livres

Bread Bread Bread

2018-11-09T15:23:00.002-05:00

by Ann Morris, with photographs by Ken Heyman

Skinny bread, fat bread, round flat bread, bread with a hole - people eat bread all over the world!

Millions of Missing Words...

2015-04-16T17:46:00.001-04:00

For babies and preschoolers, vocabulary is king.

The vast majority of a preschooler's vocabulary is derived from their parents' vocabularies. A 2003 study by Betty Hart and Todd Risley discovered that children living in poverty hear about 25% of the words per hour that children from middle and high income families do. This adds up: babies and preschoolers from high-income homes could be expected to experience 30 million more words before they reach school age than will those children living in poverty (Hart & Risley, 2003).

Hart & Risley's study is now over 10 years old. With the advent of smartphones and later tablets, even children in middle and high income households are experiencing the vocabulary of poverty now. Parents are spending hours each day texting, posting on social media, reading and working from their smartphones and tablets. All of this time involves little to no oral language for babies and preschoolers, which is how children learn language best at this age - face-to-face with their caregivers.

For every hour spent looking silently at a device instead of talking with our children, we deprive them of the adoption of 2,000 more words into their lexicon. Over the course of a single day, this can add up to more than 10,000 words lost or delayed (Short, 2013). Over the course of five years, their vocabularies will have shrunk by a third or more compared to children from comparable income levels in prior years.

This is a big problem, but together we can fix it. Visit me at jdw2130.wix.com/gollman-literacy to find out how!

Teaching Toddlers: Colors, Counting, Shapes, Letters

2012-05-10T23:32:00.001-04:00

Here are some of my favorite ways to teach very young children:

Colors: Point out colors in nature. Toddlers love to be outside and explore the natural world, so show them real colors in flora and fauna. Talk to them about colors that have personal meaning to them: the color of your eyes, the color of our car, the color of our house, the color of your new shoes, the color of your toy trains. Let them touch, taste & experiment with colors through art and food.
Counting: Understand that for toddlers, counting is not very relevant. There is little motivation or reward to actually count anything. The best things to focus on with regard to numbers & counting for little ones are: a) understanding one or more than one and b) counting with 1:1 correspondence a very few meaningful objects. For example, count their fingers and toes, or ask them to get their shoes for an outing and then count each shoe as they retrieve it. Saying "12345678910" has as much connection to their future math skills as singing the alphabet song does to their future literacy (as in, very little). It is not much more than a fun pony trick for a toddler, so focus more on big picture concepts like more/less, a lot/a little, one/more than one.
Shapes: Look for shapes all around the household and neighborhood - cookware, furniture, mirrors, street signs, jewelry. Use descriptive language when speaking and include shape adjectives: "Can you hand me the square pan?" or "Do you like Mommy's heart necklace?" or "Here is a star sticker for you!"
Letters: ABC books are great for learning about letters because they involve bonding time and usually include examples the sounds of the letters, but if your little one isn't the type to sit and read for long periods, don't worry. You can use environmental print to create repeated exposures and opportunities to name and discuss letters.

Remember to always keep the learning relevant. The first letters that children often learn are those in their own name. Why? Because their own name is so important to them. Likewise, they will easily learn any of the above basics that you can connect to them, their family or friends and their world.

Here are some great books for teaching about colors, counting, shapes, & letters, as well as a couple about opposites that will appeal to young children:

Motivation

2012-05-10T23:02:00.001-04:00

When teaching, it is important to understand that motivation is central to all learning. A child can be motivated for a variety of reasons, but in order for them to learn anything, they must be motivated by something. Here are some examples of motivating factors for young children:

Fun
Bonding time with a parent or favorite caregiver
Novel activities
Nature
Novel outings
A desire to understand how something works
A desire to communicate needs/wants
Favorite foods or other tangibles

These motivators must be built into the learning activity, not given separately as a bribe or reward. For example, if you want to teach your child about the color red, and he loves cherry gelatin, you have a perfect storm of motivated learning at snack time. However, if you are trying to teach your child the names of letters, and you offer him red gelatin as a bribe if he sits and reads an ABC book with you, the activity is going to be a loss. The motivator must be integrated into the learning itself.

Making Connections

2012-05-10T22:48:00.000-04:00

If you want a child to learn & retain something, you have to teach it through connected & active repeated exposures. You cannot tell a child (especially a very young child), "Grass is green", and expect that they will retain that information. You must let them see it, feel it, hear it, do it, dance to it, smell it & recreate it.

For example, to teach my son the color green, I used a book, a song & nature. We had recently been reading "City Dog, Country Frog", a book which includes the line, "City dog didn't stop to admire the green, green grass". This line is accompanied by a vivid watercolor illustration showing an expanse of very bright green grass. The next time we went for a walk outside, I took him to a strip of grass & repeated the line, "City dog didn't stop to admire the green, green grass..." His face lit up with recognition! I didn't belabor the point; we smiled & ran our fingers through the grass & went on with our walk. We continued to read the book and touch the grass and talk about things that were green. Then we found a great recording by Jewel of "The Green Grass Grows All Around" & started playing that for him & singing it to him. My husband burned it to a CD for car trips. We even attended a Mo Willems (author of "City Dog, Country Frog") book signing at Barnes & Noble.

Some may call this overkill, but...Ollie has known every color, for a long time now, with 100% accuracy.

I usually use books as a starting point for learning something new, but you have to go beyond that & help kids make connections to real life, or the knowledge from a book won't stick. And this is coming from someone who adores books & writes The Book Blog, so trust me!

To review, here are the keys to teaching a child something new:

Read about the subject matter.
Make connections through other modalities or intelligences to the subject.
Provide repeated exposures over time.
For young children - NO DRILLING or overly structured lessons. It's unnecessary & detrimental.
Understand that motivation is central to all learning. If the method is boring, irrelevant & tedious, so will the subject matter be perceived to be boring, irrelevant & tedious, and very little real learning will occur.

HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY!

2011-11-29T15:35:00.001-05:00

Calling all Teachers, Parents, Students & Bookworms!

That's right - The Book Blog is hosting its first-ever giveaway! This giveaway will be done scavenger-hunt style and is open to all Facebook page fans! This is a fun way to earn holiday $$$ for buying books for everyone on your list!

You MUST "like" The Book Blog on Facebook in order to participate. All answers to giveaway trivia questions must be posted on The Book Blog's Facebook page.
In order to earn points in the giveaway, you must be the FIRST fan to post a CORRECT answer on The Book Blog's Facebook page.
1 correct answer = 1 point = 1 Amazon dollar. Points will be added up on Monday and you will receive an Amazon e-gift certificate for your points from the previous week. For example, if you answer 5 questions correctly throughout the week, you will earn an Amazon e-gift certificate of $5.
You must share your email address in order to receive your e-gift. This can be done by messaging me via The Book Blog or by simply checking your Facebook settings to make sure I will be able to view your email address.

Please leave a comment with any questions! The giveaway begins tomorrow, so join The Book Blog on Facebook now so you don't miss any chances for points!

365 Days of Reading: Tip #29 - Scrapbooks & Photo Albums

2011-09-30T14:34:00.000-04:00

Scrapbooking can be a fun hobby for parents, and it can also contribute to your child's budding literacy skills.

Tell the story of your family through photographs and captions. If you are super creative, then just buy the materials you like at an art store and go for it. If you need a little inspiration, you can buy pre-matched scrapbooking sets at stores like Michael's. If you are like me and wouldn't even know where to begin, you can even buy premade scrapbooks in which you simply fill in the pictures and perhaps a few captions.

Laminate the pages or place them in page protector sleeves, then clip them into a binder. This will make the album user-friendly for even the stickiest little hands. Using page protector sleeves and a binder also gives you the freedom to add as many pages as you like or swap out the pages for something novel every now and then.

Remember, babies LOVE to look at black & white imagery, so don't forget to print copies of those really old photographs of grandparents and great-grandparents.

Little Pirate Goes to School

2011-09-29T23:07:00.000-04:00

by Lawrence Shimel

This book is recommended by my little friend Jace! It has engaging features for little ones such as pop-up illustrations and a fold-out treasure map. Check it out!

365 Days of Reading: Tip #28 - Let Other People Read to Your Kids

2011-09-28T20:52:00.000-04:00

Let other people read to your kids. It staves off laryngitis.

Let me suggest several fun ways to do this:

Attend a story time at your local bookstore. For example, the Barnes & Noble near me has two story times each Monday - one for ages 2 to 4; a second for ages 3 to 5. You can find out more by asking for details at your book store or by picking up a flyer at the customer service desk (if it's a big chain like B&N). The ages ranges are just suggested - so if your 1-year-old can sit quietly for a story at home, then by all means give it a try.
Keep an eye out for author appearances and book signings. You can amass a shelf full of signed copies of some of the best children's literature this way. The author will usually do a reading of all or part of a newly published work, then sign copies for purchase.
(I won't say "Go to story time at the library" here because that's too obvious.)
Visit web sites with fun read-alouds. One of my favorites, and a best-kept secret, is Storyline Online, which is sponsored by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation. There, celebrities read classic & contemporary children's favorites to your little one. StoryBee is another great site, where professional storytellers do the reading. B&N also has an online story time on the first Tuesday of every month. Those readings are usually done by the author of the book.

Here are some of the great books your child will be read this month if you follow my tips:

365 Days of Reading: Tip #27 - Use Recommended Reading Lists

2011-09-26T16:07:00.000-04:00

School districts often publish recommended reading lists for each grade level. Do a search for recommended reading to suit your child's age, grade level or reading ability. For babies and toddlers, searching for PreK, PreSchool or Kindergarten lists will yield you great results.

Here are some wonderful books recommended by the Houston Area Independent Schools Library Network, for PreSchool, PreKindergarten and Kindergarten:

365 Days of Reading: Tip #26 - Read-Alouds on YouTube

2011-09-26T15:19:00.001-04:00

Parents need a break every once in awhile. One way to get yourself a quick break without inducing parental guilt over too much screen time is to allow your child a few minutes with a read-aloud book on YouTube.

Many contemporary and classic books are available (see my posts about The Snowy Day and Goodnight Moon) on YouTube channels, but the quality and content will vary depending on the presenter.

Before you allow your small child to watch ANYTHING on YouTube, you will of course want to screen it yourself. The best read-aloud videos will come from Reading Specialists and classroom teachers. SammyStoryShop's channel is a great place to start.

365 Days of Reading: Tip #25 - Bilingual Books

2011-09-25T14:33:00.000-04:00

The world is getting smaller and smaller through technology's connectivity and our global marketplace. If you're a parent like me, you are more concerned than ever about preparing your children to participate in that shrinking world, which means being able to interact with diverse groups of people.

From my previous posts, you probably already know that children learn language at an amazing pace from birth through elementary school. If you or your family only speak one language, but you would like to expose your child to others, know that many children's books are available in more than one language.

Initially, it helps to choose texts with which your child is already familiar. This will help them figure out the meanings of the words. It also helps to choose books that are picture-heavy and in which the pictures correlate closely to the text.

Here are some great examples of beloved children's books that are available in Spanish:

365 Days of Reading: Tip #24 - Choose Beautiful Books

2011-09-25T14:19:00.000-04:00

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but children love to look at beautifully designed and illustrated books just as much as we do.

Beautiful books can be used to teach your little one how to care for books ("look how lovely these pictures are; let's handle them gently"). They can also increase your very young child's stamina for reading, as beautiful books inspire a lot of quiet looking and gazing at details.

Share with them some aesthetically pleasing Caldecott Award winners, especially aimed at the baby and toddler crowd. You and your little one might also enjoy children's literature featuring real works of art or even some coffee table books showcasing world-class photography.

365 Days of Reading: Tip #23 - Break the Cycle of Poverty

2011-09-21T14:06:00.001-04:00

Children who are born into poverty are born into a distinct disadvantage when it comes to developing their vocabulary (Hart & Risley, 1995). Early vocabulary learning is KEY to a child's future ability to read and comprehend text of all types.

The other day, I posted about the importance of using a wide variety of specific, accurate labels in order to grow your child's vocabulary. But what if you were born into poverty yourself and therefore don't have a large vocabulary from which to draw when interacting with your child? It's not too late to educate yourself and increase the number of words you are exposing yourself and your child to. Remember - it matters NOW. The earlier, the better!

Here are some fun ways that will make a difference and won't cost you a penny:

Play Free Rice games. Not only will it help you grow your vocabulary (and your knowledge on whatever other subjects you choose to click), your usage will also result in donations to the World Food Programme to fight hunger.
Download the Dictionary.com app on your smartphone. You will get a new word (and other interesting trivia) each day through push notifications.
Pick up a free publication like Creative Loafing. These often feature similar word puzzles to those you would find in paid publications. Completing the word puzzles each day will engage the language learning in your brain.
Play Words With Friends on Facebook or on your smartphone.
And finally - read, read, read! When you take your child to the library, make sure you check out a few books for yourself. Try to challenge yourself - for every book you check out for pleasure, check one out that you know will be something a bit different for you.

For those parents who WEREN'T born into poverty and have advanced education, you may be thinking that this post is irrelevant to you. It's not! Share your language skills by volunteering to read to a story time group at a local library or to be a tutor to kid who are struggling in reading at their grade level at your neighborhood school.

365 Days of Reading: Tip #22 - Subscribe to a Magazine

2011-09-18T22:03:00.000-04:00

Not just any magazine - Highlights High Five magazine! Seriously! This is the greatest thing since sliced bread, in my opinion and my son's. The magazine is targeted at ages 2 to 6, but it is a lot of fun for older babies and younger toddlers as well.

In each issue, there are:

movement and/or finger play rhymes
"That's Silly!" illustrations where kids can pick out the nonsensical aspects
multi-page stories
poetry
simple stories told mostly through pictures ("The Adventures of Spot" is a series)
"Hidden Pictures" illustrations where kids can search for and name cleverly disguised items
nonfiction features with photographs of real animals, people or places
Spanish language features
a mini-book to cut out and keep or a small game to assemble and play
a construction challenge using common toddler toys (wooden blocks, mega blocks, railroad tracks)

You get a new issue every month so there is never boredom (for you or your child). Also, the magazines are (obviously) disposable/recyclable so you can bring them to the dinner table for high chair entertainment, you can bring them outdoors or keep a few back issues in the car.

If you're afraid to spring right away for a subscription, scoop up a few of these back issues on Amazon to see what you're missing:

365 Days of Reading: Tip #21 - Don't Be a Dumb-y

2011-09-18T16:31:00.001-04:00

Do not 'dumb down' your language to talk to your little one! It is unnecessary and even harmful. Let me tell you why.

Young children have an amazing capacity for learning language. All they need is the proper input. And all words are created equal, so use the CORRECT, SPECIFIC labels for things rather than trying to dumb it down just because your child is small.

Here's an example. Two words that can be used to describe the taste of food are "scrumptious" and "good". A young child is equally capable of learning and using either term - they're both JUST words. Adults may hear a child use the word "scrumptious" and think, Wow what a genius!! But it's just as easy for that child to learn one word over the other. Another example: two words that can be used to name a particular musical instrument: "horn" and "trombone". Which one is more specific?

Think of how easily a baby who is constantly exposed to two or more languages can be become bilingual or even trilingual. This happens with no direct, explicit instruction on the caregivers' part, but simply through daily conversation and interaction. If these children can learn two (or more) labels for everything in their daily lives, can you imagine what a large vocabulary yours has the capacity for? Don't squander it by using 'simple' labels. Use SPECIFIC ones. I have seen posts on very popular baby & child websites that advise parents to use simple language when teaching their little ones how to talk. Do not fall into this trap! And don't listen to anyone who says you are talking over your baby's head. Advice like this will only limit your child in the long run.

Older babies and young toddlers who are just learning how to talk may not be able to say all the sounds in longer words. This is a-okay. Give it time. As their speaking catches up with their understanding, the resulting vocabulary explosion will amaze you (and everyone else who doesn't know this secret of talking to babies!).

Simpler words are more commonly heard and spoken, so you won't need to remind yourself to use them often and teach them to your child. Less common words, like 'scrumptious' or 'trombone', may not be the first ones to come to mind, so you may have to remind yourself to use a variety of vocabulary in your interactions with your little one. Remind yourself to use the most specific, accurate language available for any given topic, and you will see your child's vocabulary expand in kind.

That said, here are some great books to share with your child that aren't afraid of using the "big words":

365 Days of Reading: Tip #20 - Reminisce

2011-09-16T22:32:00.000-04:00

Once you've been a mom long enough to black out and/or compartmentalize labor & delivery, why not blur the memory edges a little more? No, not with another goblet of chardonnay, but with a sentimental bit of children's lit to share with your little one.

If you have an older baby or toddler, she might have you like water for chocolate these days with her new impish ways. The perfect cure? Reminiscing about the day or night she was born while snuggling together over a great book.

No matter how old your child is, you will both enjoy sharing THESE great classics, new & old (there's one in there for adoptive parents/children, too):

365 Days of Reading: Tip #19 - Celebrate the Changing Seasons

2011-09-15T16:00:00.000-04:00

Rotating the books on your bookshelf will prevent book boredom (yours or theirs). One way to go about this is to choose seasonal books. Libraries often change their children's displays periodically in this fashion, so check out those displays to get some ideas for your own!

Autumn/Harvest books:

And for your inspiration...Autumn Displays:

Oak Park Public Library

Classroom bulletin board:

365 Days of Reading: Tip #18 - Little Hands Need Little Books

2011-09-14T13:44:00.000-04:00

Build your baby's language skills AND their small motor dexterity at the same time with tiny board books! The books listed below are available in small sizes perfect for a baby or toddler's hands. Young children love to carry around favorite objects as they learn to move, and books are a wonderful thing to grow attached to.

365 Days of Reading: Tip #17 - Indulge Their Hobbies & Interests

2011-09-13T14:47:00.000-04:00

What better way to keep your child interested in reading than to show them books about their favorite topics? There is something for every child out there. Comment below and let me know if yours has a passion for which you need book recommendations!

This post is especially for my little friend Jace, who loves trucks, animals & numbers:

Trucks:

Animals:

Numbers:

365 Days of Reading: Tip #16 - The Book Worms

2011-09-12T23:40:00.001-04:00

How do you keep a young child who is already a blossoming book worm continuously engaged? How do you challenge a child who is already literate beyond their years? This post is for my little friend Lily who loves books.

Here are some tips for keeping your little book worm engaged & entertained:

1. Give her access to any book that she is interested in, even if it seems way too hard, over her head or full of advanced concepts. (Keep in mind, book worms will devour books, so trips to the library will be in order lest you spend the college savings far too early.)

2. Vary her media. Audio books, e-books, cloth books (to go to bed and wake up with), magazines and newspapers can all make interesting reading for even a young child. You will want to censor what publications you offer, especially with magazines and newspapers that may be intended for older audiences. You can even find great read-aloud videos on YouTube (see my post on Goodnight Moon).

3. Word or letter games and puzzles are a great way to engage her interest in language without risking book boredom. Think - alphabet blocks, word jumbles, refrigerator poetry (see below).

4. This may seem counterintuitive, but now is a great time to introduce books WITHOUT words. There is more than one way of telling a story, and some picture books are written using ONLY pictures. These are a great way to grow your child's story telling abilities and realize that THEY have stories, too!

5. Once your young child realizes the value of telling a good story, encourage her to tell stories orally. These can be real stories - "tell me about your day at pre-K" - or made-up stories - "tell me a story about that squirrel in our tree".

6. Teach her the art of bookmaking. Give her some art materials and let her be the author.

7. Expand the genres on her bookshelf. Now might be a good time to introduce collections of poetry or find some nonfiction books that tie in to her fiction favorites.

8. Help her begin to define her own interests in books, topics and authors. Experiment with themed collections from a certain author or on a certain topic (say, several books in different genres on one topic). Guide her to seeing the connections between these groups of books.

Here are some examples:

A collection of books of different genres on a single topic:

365 Days of Reading: Tip #15 - Make Dad a Reader!

2011-09-12T14:50:00.003-04:00

How do you model good reading behaviors if Dad isn't so interested in reading?

The truth is, he probably does read and he might even enjoy the time he spends reading. It just might be a different KIND of reading than what most women do.

Men tend to read for a purpose. They tend to choose nonfiction over fiction (as do their sons - see Tip #12). And of course, they love their gadgets.

So here are my best tips for getting Dad to model his reading skills for your child:

1. Subscribe to your local newspaper or a widely available and well-respected publication like the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, depending on his interests. Get it at least twice a week; most big newspapers have deals that allow you to subscribe to just the weekend editions. A lot of men enjoy reading the newspaper, but they also enjoy the ritual of it, too, so this is why you want the actual paper and not just an electronic version. Kids often enjoy completing the puzzle pages with Mom & Dad.

2. However, electronic print has its place, too! He needs an e-reader like the Kindle or at the very least a smartphone (he can get the Kindle app for free). Then, add a few children's books to the e-reader in addition to the books that Dad is reading on there. This will make it a fun shared activity for them both. (For kids, e-reading can't replace real books, so just keep it in perspective and view it as a way for your child to understand that Daddy is indeed reading when he picks up his smartphone or Kindle.)

3. Give books as gifts. I mean, for every holiday - birthdays, holy days, anniversaries, you name it. Find out more about his hobbies and every time you give him a gift, get a book that goes along with it. Guys read for a purpose, so choose books that are informative or humorous on the topics he loves.

4. Place a book in the bathroom. Yes, I'm serious. Do it. How bad do you want him to read?! Just do it. If you really don't want your books in the bathroom, then subscribe to a news magazine like Time or guys' magazine like Men's Health, and place a new issue in there every month. Place the reading material in a stylish little basket and everything will still look nice & tidy.

P.S. The basket featured above is made of recycled newspapers! How cool is that?!

365 Days of Reading: Tip #14 - Use Books to Help Kids Identify Emotions

2011-09-11T15:56:00.000-04:00

I was teaching in Atlanta. As I was lining up my students to change classes, I overheard teachers talking in the hallway. I thought they were talking about a movie, because nothing like that could have happened in real life.

(I was wrong.)

The next morning, shop owners had changed their billboards to messages of sympathy and solidarity, and the digital signs above 75/85-S read "AMERICA IS IN A STATE OF WAR. USE EXTREME CAUTION". A coworker, born & raised in NYC, sent around pictures from family members taken of the Towers as they burned.

The next day, we all wore red, white & blue, and changed our classroom bulletin boards. But this was ten years ago, and I was still very young, and I had no idea how to explain how life had changed forever, to my 5th grade charges.

If I had known then what I know now, I would have reached for a few well-written books to help release the questions and emotions brewing in those kids' minds.

Where were you on the morning of September 11, 2001?

Penny Books!

2011-09-11T15:09:00.001-04:00

Books for a penny?! Don't mind if I do!! In this collection of penny books, I have hand-selected some of my favorites, a few award-winners and some by favorite children's authors and illustrators.

Ultimately, you will probably end up paying about $2-$4 per book, since shipping & handling charges do apply. But still! That's a great deal for the absolute best in children's literature, both classic and contemporary.

Hover over the slideshow to see details on each book. (The penny prices will not display, however, until you click on the widget!)

Amazon.com Widgets

365 Days of Reading: Tip #13 - The Wiggly Worms

2011-09-10T14:50:00.000-04:00

Moms of boys (or any toddler, really) sometimes wonder, "How can I get him to sit still while I read to him?"

My answer: You don't, and you don't need to, in order to still raise a good reader.

Your child will develop reading stamina over time, so think of learning to read as a marathon (never a sprint!). Just because little Johnny is too wriggly for War & Peace now doesn't mean that he'll be a struggling reader once he reaches grade school. And conversely, just because little Sally recognizes letters of the alphabet at age 1 doesn't mean she'll enter Harvard at age 12. It's a marathon, so relax & enjoy the scenery.

Now for some tips that WILL help you build reading stamina in a very young child:

1. Choose books that are interactive (see my post on multisensory books, Tip #10). Books that have flaps to lift or buttons to press are engaging to kinesthetically inclined boys & toddlers.

2. Ask or allow your child to turn the pages as you read. Pause at the end of each spread and see if he figures out that it's time to turn the page. If not, you can prompt him with a simple phrase like, "Want to turn?"

3. Read a book to him while he moves. Who says you have to sit still to listen to a story? While he builds a tower of blocks or pushes his favorite toy car around the floor, read him a story. Pause after each spread to show him the pictures, but if he doesn't look your way, don't stress it. Just keep reading - he loves your voice anyway!

4. Choose non-story books that have lots of interesting, labeled pictures (see an example below). On each spread, ask him to point to different items that you name. Teach him new ones each time you read the book.

5. Tell or recite stories in the car or while you are out for a walk. My son's face lights up when I recite a few lines from a favorite book that relates to something we are doing. For example, when we go outside to run around, I might say, "City Dog didn't stop to admire the green, green grass - he ran straight for Country Frog's rock!" (from City Dog, Country Frog).

6. Read to your child during bath time and meal time. Waterproof (and therefore milk-proof and juice-proof) bath books are great for these readings.

7. Choose nonfiction books that relate to his current interests. Right now, our shelf is full of books about trains.

8. Avoid relegating reading time to ONLY quiet times of the day (see Tip #9). All times are reading times! Make sure his books are displayed in an open area, with covers facing outward, so that he has constant access to his choice of literature. Rotate the books on display there to maintain high interest.

9. Read books that are connected to recent outings. If you visit a museum, read a book that features a museum or some artwork. If you go to the grocery store, read an alphabet book that includes foods. If you visit a local organic farm...you get the picture.

10. I'll say it again - environmental print (see Tip #8).

Soon enough your wriggly toddler will be a sullen teenager and you'll be wishing you could get him to budge off the couch, so enjoy this time of high energy & take your reading on the go!