How can you read a book with no words? You read the pictures! Even kids who aren't reading words yet can read pictures - especially if it's a story they've seen before. Understanding story structures - that stories have a beginning, middle, and end - is a part of early literacy skills development. Telling the story of a wordless book is a great way to develop that skill. Pro tip: Reading the pictures (even if the book has text) is also a way to share that one current favorite

My lovely hair stylist is having a baby! Yay! Naturally, because I'm me, I had to get her some board books for her sweet pea. Many people like to give books at baby showers. It's a wonderful way to start (or build up) a child's first library! But if there's one thing I know, it's that SOMEONE will show up with a copy of GOODNIGHT MOON or WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE or BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE? I can pretty much GUARANTEE they will get these books, if they don't h

Singing with children seems to be a no-brainer. It's fun, and if you sing a soft lullaby at bedtime, it lulls them to sleep. But singing together has even more great benefits! Singing songs helps children train their ear to hear the many parts that make up words, including rhymes, letter sounds, and syllables. From songs they learn new vocabulary (does anyone talk about their water spout in regular conversation?) and gain background knowledge. It helps with memory, motor coor

Last November, I wrote about why humor is important in children's books, and I promised a post about my favorite titles. Finally, FINALLY, here it is. This is by no means an exhaustive list, because I love SO MANY books that I'm sure I'll leave some out. Also, a caveat: Some of these only kids will find funny. Some of these will make you both laugh. But since kids ARE the target audience here, I'm less worried about you. Sorry, not sorry. I will try to update this periodicall

“Play is often talked about as if it were a serious relief from learning. But for children, play is learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” - Fred Rogers Mr. Rogers knew what he was talking about. Play is how children learn! Through play, they are experimenting, pretending, imagining, using their bodies, practicing interpersonal skills, trying new things, exploring, and so much more. Here are some great picture books that celebrate the work of childhood, WE ALL PLAY

Look, it's well into February and I'm finally getting around to writing about my favorite books of the previous year! Let's just say that...

In my monthly library program, I choose an early literacy theme on which to focus. In November it was vocabulary - or, more specifically,...

Did you know that learning about shapes helps with learning letters and numbers? It does! Being able to recognize shapes helps with...

Every month I share a booklist to go along with the theme of the program I'm doing at my library that month. This month we're exploring...

What do toddlers like in picture books? What kinds of books will keep them most engaged? Young toddlers are still developing their eyesight, so super-complicated images with lots of detail might be harder to decipher. They need more information spelled out in the text, and a simpler plot with fewer sentences - one or two per page - as their attention spans are short. VERY short. Toddlers, in general*, love: books with repeated refrains, simple concepts (counting, colors, numb