Nov 03 2008
Children’s Picture Books
When the preschool child is provided with an abundance of books to pretend to read, in time, they actually learn many things about reading on their own. Of course, every parent and preschool teacher knows how important it is to read to children, so they do as often as they can, but if you want the children in your class to read independently sometimes, here are a few books that will teach them pre-reading skills while they pretend to read alone so that you can do something else, at least now and then. WHAT TYPE OF PICTURE BOOKS TO BUY FOR THE PRESCHOOL CHILD:Pictured books about familiar things to a preschool child will be comforting while developing their minds. Still, a preschool class should also provide books that excite the young minds, and build their sense of self as it relates to their homes and communities. At the preschool age, the books should have lots of pictures to see, and along with the printed word, the child begins to recognize the fact that words represent people, places and things.1. Alphabet and counting books:
These types of books should feature a child’s learning of ABC’s and numbers. Remember the books need to have vivid colors, which will always appeal to children, no matter how many times they read them.
A good book to buy to provide the ability to learn ABC’s and numbers through the vivid use of pictures would be a book by Bill Martin and John Archambault , called, “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.” The illustrations by Lois Ehlert will present a vivid picture to the concepts of letters and numbers.
2. Wordless Picture Books:Sometimes it’s good to allow a child to use their imagination. Wordless books foster creativity by providing a story told in pictures. The child can use his own words to make the story come alive through the pictures in the book that go through his mind.
One of the best wordless picture books is, “Good Dog Carl, by Alexandra Day.
3. Pictured Books for Developing Concepts:Preschool age children are furiously learning new concepts, so it’s wise to provide books that enhance and picture concepts clearly such as, colors, shapes, sizes, designs and opposites.“Color Dance,” by Ann Jones is great for that.
4. Pattern Books:
Every preschool class should have at least a few pattern books, that can pictorially teach the child about predicting and sequencing.
One of the most famous children’s books that provides this technique is by Bill Martin jr and Eric Carle, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” I suppose every child has heard that story, but none ever get tired of reading it, so by all means, it will be worth every penny you spend.
5. Information Books:
Don’t forget books that have realistic pictures or photographs that introduce facts and describe specific things. They can teach a child so many things, just by the fact that he flipped through the pages.
“Bugs,” by Nancy Winslow Parker and Joan Richard Wright is a great informative book about, can you guess? Yes, bugs. Your child will be knowledgeable about so many things if you provide a way to find the knowledge they need.
6. Traditional rhyming story books:Of course, you just must provide those books that we all grew up reading. The illustrations will take the child to that childhood fantasy place. Do you remember those days?“The Little Red Hen,” by Byron Barton, never gets too old to sit in a preschool class.
7. Poetry BooksEvery child needs to know how to memorize a poem, so please, buy a few poetry books for your classroom. rhyming is a good way to build memory skills, and the visual cues of the pictures should help them to relate an image with a word.” Honey, I Love,” by Eloise Greenfield and illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist is a great powetry book for preshcool classrooms.8. Easy to read books, please!
When books are easy to read, it makes the child like to read. After all, we don’t like to do what is too hard to do, so provide a few books that focus on vocabulary and rhyming ways to remember those vocabulary words.
This book is good for beginning readers. “The Foot Book,” by Dr. Seurss. Yes, it’s true. Dr. Seuss is still every preschool child’s favoriete author.
To Conclude:
I hope this gave you a great way to begin your preschool class library. Just remember that every book your preschool students read, will lead them to becoming more fluent readers than you’d have dreamed they’d be, so please, choose your books wisely. Remember, a picture can teach so more than a thousand words to a preschooler.
