A Baker's Dozen: The Best Children's Books for Family Literacy

This book is a lot of fun and presents the opportunity for adults and children to practice counting together.  Adults can consider their young reader’s age, interests, and development and decide if they would enjoy counting the dogs on some of the pages or just allowing time for children to take in the illustrations.  Some children might take the lead in pointing and counting, and others may appreciate support and modeling from an adult. A fun idea might be for the adult to count one part of each page (ex: 4 dogs guard the sausages) and the child to count the other part (6 dogs not impressed)

This alphabet book is bound to inspire movement. Families can make a set of alphabet cards to keep on hand for helping children recognize the letter shapes made by the bodies in the book. Adults can help keep children engaged in this book by encouraging them to find the objects (see key on last page) that begin with each letter and act out the suggested movements sprinkled between alphabet letters.

After reading the book, children will likely want to try making some of the letters with their bodies.  Some letters can be easily made, but it can be fun to try the harder ones, even if children simply end up falling over and rolling on the floor. Agile adults and older siblings might want to join in as well!

A less active follow-up game involves both alphabet recognition and remembering and can be played with any alphabet book. Close the book and take turns asking, e.g., “What object was on the letter F page?  Then turn to the page to check. 

After examining the cover illustration, adults and children can notice that the first pages show a gift arriving for a new baby. Consider together whether that might be the bear and baby from the book’s cover. If so, the child has probably loved this bear since infancy.

When reading this book with younger children, adults can point to each picture and use simple words to describe what’s happening.  This POINT AND TELL technique will help children’s vocabulary grow.  Children may want to “read” along with adults and label or describe some of the pictures themselves.  Simply pointing and saying one word is a good start to becoming a reader. 

Older children will be eager to examine the pictures more closely and answer questions about what’s happening in them (e.g. “Oh! Oh!  What do you think the Mommy is saying now?”)   Help children relate the story to how they feel about their own favorite toys.

Families who are not city apartment dwellers, may want to preview the story by looking through the illustrations, talking with children about ways that Amanda’s city living differs from theirs--- concrete surrounding the building, laundry drying on balconies, and SO many nearby children to play with!  While reading the story, adults can point out how the children’s artwork brought cheer and happiness to the families in the building—and add, just as your child’s artwork does for you! 

After reading, adults can support children’s imaginations by playing the game, “Where are you and What are you doing?”  Turn to the double-page spread of the children’s artwork.  Then say, “Let’s pretend that we live in that building and want to help make the picture.” Take turns pointing to a spot in the picture where you would like to be, and tell what you would draw there, as well as the colors you would use. Your child might like playing this game with illustrations in other books as well.   

Adults may notice ellipsis (…) on several pages in this book.  This kind of punctuation sometimes means that words are missing. In this case, an ellipse means that the reader should pause before reading on. When pausing before reading the rest of the question, it is easy to trick the listener into counting further than one. But children soon learn to wait and listen carefully!  Adults can scan the QR code on the book’s back cover to provide children with multiple opportunities to listen to the story, turn the pages themselves, and recognize some of the printed words.   

During adult-child re-reads, take turns choosing something else to count on each page, e.g., “How many ducks are NOT wearing rollerblades?”  This is a good game to use while waiting while out and about with children too: “How many chairs in this room. . . have arms?” 

In this story, the dialogue is shared among the dragon, the turtle, and many of the frogs.  Reading with expression increases children’s interest and engagement in the story and helps them understand the emotions of the characters. Adults can practice different voices and tones they feel are a good fit for each character in the story. Upon repeated readings, children may want to try voicing one or more of the characters, too.

Adults can visit the local library to look for non-fiction books about horses, or do some online searching to gather some facts about horses to include in conversation when reading with children. Adding information like what horses like to eat, why they sleep standing up, and how they get clean can answer questions children might have and give the opportunity to insert fun facts while reading! Pairing fiction and non-fiction information together about a topic extends learning, supports comprehension, and boosts imagination.

This book tells its story through text, but also shares additional details through its illustrations. Adults can pause after reading the text on each page and allow time for younger readers to take in the illustrations and add their thoughts to the story. Adults can ask guiding prompts such as, “Rosie and Tulip really like kittens and cats. What do you see in their bedroom that gives us a clue that they really like kittens and cats?” Children will also like to share what kind of cat they would vote for when Mommy asks, and what they would offer as a possible name for their pet. Do they prefer one that Rosie and Tulip suggested, or something different?

Adults can encourage children to put their prediction skills to work while reading Mr. S. Before reading, adults can ask children to look at the illustrations on the cover and beginning pages of the book. What do they think this book will be about? While reading, adults can pose questions to hear what young readers predict will happen next in the story. Do they think Mr. S could be the real teacher of the class? Who is the man at the beginning of the story who goes outside in the storm? Adults can brainstorm other questions that will support prediction and understanding of the story. It might be helpful for adults to also do their own predicting ahead of reading and consider what questions their child might ask during the story. What answers can support understanding, without giving the ending away?

Children who live in or close to a city may make personal connections to what they read in the story.  When children relate what they read to their own experiences, it supports their comprehension skills as new readers. Adults can provide time for children to ask questions and share examples that they relate to from their own lives. Children in rural settings can enjoy this window into a new setting, and may make personal connections, too, especially if they have a family member who works a night shift. Adults can ask them what community members are still awake and working at night in their area. Adults can reassure children that while some people are asleep, there are others working hard to keep their towns and cities working.

This book has several pages that contain 9 smaller pictures of Ruffles engaged in various activities.  This layout gives adults an opportunity to model the proper direction for reading, by touching each picture from  left to right and top to bottom.  Younger children will enjoy acting out and learning names of some of Ruffles’ activities during this story, e.g., sniffing, scratching, creeping, staring.  Older children may appreciate a chance to talk about noises or other things that they don’t like. This can extend into talking about where their special cozy, safe place is, or where they would like one to be.  On rereading, some children may be able to retell parts of the story, while younger ones might just enjoy randomly pointing to pictures and asking the adult to tell or read the descriptive words.

It might be helpful to talk about the science of reflections with children prior to reading this story. Adults can explain that water can reflect light, causing the water to act like a mirror if the water is smooth and perfectly calm. Before the story begins, the book shows an illustration of the pond where readers can see how a tree and some flowers near the pond are reflected in the water. Showing this example will support understanding and let young readers in on the joke and the humor of the story. Young readers may also enjoy holding this book open due to its unique vertical perspective.

This story’s familiar setting gives families and children much to think and talk about. Adults and children can share times when they both have been confronted with a need to be brave. Where possible, adults can introduce ideas of how we decide about doing something we fear. For example, to be sure that the activity is safe, children can ask a trusted grown up or older sibling for advice. They can also watch others do the activity first, or even start by doing just a small part at a time. 

This story also presents a good opportunity to point out individual differences in people. Some of us love to try out new things right away, while others need to take our time. Adults can point out that on the Dedication Page, the illustrator Marc Rosenthal declares that he is actually a “scaredy-cat!”