learn Here are a few of Patterson’s book recommendations for various reading stages: AGES 0-6 • “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” by Eileen Christelow • “My Very First Mother Goose” by Iona Hope • “Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes” by Mem Fox • “No, David!” by David Shannon • “Olivia” by Ian Falconer • “Billy and Milly, Short and Silly!” by Eve Feldman • “Madeline” by Ludwig Bemelmans • “When Dinosaurs Came with Everything” by Elise Broach
Instilling a Love of Reading Early On BY LISA KATZ
As a parent, one of the most effective ways you can instill a love for reading in your children is to simply read aloud to them. While this may seem natural when they are infants, it is just as important to continue when they are in elementary school. It has been shown that reading aloud to your child daily from an early age will help them become children who love to read.
Reading can help develop imagination and exposes children to experiences other than their own. Books can be a great source of entertainment at any age and finding the right book for your child is key!
Of course, practice makes perfect. The more children read, the better readers they will become. James Patterson, the author of numerous novels, created an inspiring website called ReadKiddoRead.com. It’s a place where you can “get and share tips and ideas with thousands of likeminded parents.” ]
AGES 8 & UP • “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White • “Big Nate: In a Class By Himself” by Lincoln Peirce • “The Homework Machine” by Dan Gutman • “A Black Hole in NOT a Hole” by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano • “Looking for Bobowicz: A Hoboken Chicken Story” by Daniel Pinkwater AGES 10 & UP • “Ella Enchanted” by Gail Carson Levine • “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins • “North of Beautiful” by Justina Chen Headley • “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak • “Holes” by Louis Sachar • “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger • “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green • “Hidden Child” by Isaac Millman • “The Way We Work” by David Macaulay • “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton • “Code: A Virals Novel” by Kathy Reichs and Brendan Reichs
“We shouldn’t teach great books; we should teach a love of reading,” - B.F. Skinner 46
gigglemag.com | december/january 2016
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Let your child see you reading on a regular basis. Children love to replicate what they see. Whether it is newspapers, magazines or novels, modeling this behavior regularly will impact them. Curiosity will peak their interest and they will want to imitate what you are doing.
Read to your child or with your child at the same time each day. The structure and repetition will set a precedent that is just as important to them as brushing their teeth. Vary the location so that boredom doesn’t set in. You can read together at home, on a couch, at a coffee shop or even in the local library. This is a great bonding time between the two of you so make it fun. Not only will your child begin to look forward to this time together, it can turn reading into a habit. That’s a habit you’ll hope they’ll always have!
AGES 6 & UP • “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” by Judi Barrett • “Amelia Bedelia” by Peggy Parish • “Judy Moody Goes to College” by Megan McDonald • “What’s the Matter in Mr. Whiskers’ Room?” by Michael Elsohn Ross