How and Why you need to read to your Children Great Books to Read to your Kids

Books are our doorway to the universe and too many children are not reading and learning through experience the exciting world that reading will open up for them. I hope to lead you in some great books for your young beginning readers.

I always wanted to home school my children but with a chronic illness my husband was totally against it. To help those moms that are venturing down this road I have a list of some great books for you.

Loving to read needs to begin early to really be effective and who better to pick favorite books that your peers. For this reason I particularly like to use books chosen by children.The International Reading Association and The Children's Book Council have compiled a list of books chosen by children.

Three favorites for grades K through 2 are

! Amelia Bedelia's First vote by Herman Parish. !!! and Lynne Avril. I have always loved Amelia books and in this one Amelia not only entertains your child but also teaches them about the election process.

2 Back to Front and Upside Down by Claire Alexander This book is particularly heartwarming in that at a young boy named Stan loves to draw but his letters don't look right. He sometimes prints backwards. This teaches children that everyone has things they struggle with and/or do differently.

3 Bedtime for Monsters by Ed Vere and Henry Holt is a great book that starts with tension and leaves children giggling for more at the end.

It would be fitting for me to add some of my own children's favorites. My youngest daughter loved Blueberries for Sal by Robert McClosky. It is an adorable story about Sal and her mother picking blueberries and coming along the path of a mother bear and her cub.

My son love I Will Love You Forever by Robert N Munsch.

Of Course we all love the Dr Seuss Classics and Bernstein Bears series.

Study after study has been done and shown that the child exposed to multiple literacy events in the early years , reading, writing and being read to, learned to read at early ages and did better academically in school than children not exposed to reading

Children that see parents and care givers read and have the opportunity to read interesting and a variety of books later became "voluntary readers" . These are the children that want to read outside of school and their academic scores in later years are much higher.

Thomas Jefferson was once quoted that a "literate Society was one less likely to have tyranny".

Parent's modeling of reader can have far reaching results.

Reference American Association of School Librarian's