Suggestions for books for 3-6 year-olds

Following my post of Sep 23, 2014, on How to Help Kids Become Skilled, Passionate, Habitual, Critical Readers, I'm making suggestions about appropriate books for children to choose from. They can learn to love books from as early as Kindergarten/ Basic School. The purpose of this post is to be a guide to parents, teachers and well-wishers of Jamaican children aged 3-6 in Basic Schools and Kindergartens, who would like to buy books for children but don't know where to begin. See also my blog of March 1, 2014 for books by Jamaican authors for young children.  I used the list of books recommended by children, on CTL's website to find many of the others. Because most of the authors listed live in the USA, and have a bias towards that culture, I haven't recommended books about baseball, football, or the seasons, especially winter and snow which Jamaican children are unlikely to have experienced. I've highlighted one book per author, but together they have hundreds of other books in print.
A comment here about reading: reading means gaining meaning from words and from pictures. The illustrations in children's books are equally as important as the words.  Children build some key reading skills when they read wordless books, or books with very few words. These include comprehension, sequencing, inferring, predicting and reading from left to right and top to bottom in English.  Many of the books listed are for fluent readers to read aloud to children. The importance of reading aloud,  and for the children then to have the books in their hands, cannot be overemphasized.
Authors are listed in alphabetical order.

1. Atinuke and Lauren Tobia: Anna Hibiscus Series, set in modern Nigeria. Delightful books for the enlightenment of people not living in Nigeria, and for the entertainment of those living there.

2. Molly Bang:  When Sophie Gets Angry . Sophie gets really angry but has her own way of calming down. Minimal text, but the pictures also tell the story.
There are several other titles by this author.

3. Eric Carle: The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In this children's classic, the caterpillar eats his way through the book.  A teacher or parent would need to read this to younger children, but there's plenty of room for discussion along the way. Eric Carle has over forty children's books in print.

4. Donald Crews: Flying Minimal text. Children would need guidance the first time they look at this book, but afterwards would be able to 'read' the story on their own by looking at the pictures. Donald Crew has many books about transport, including Truck which is a wordless book. Useful in Jamaican basic schools, except for the setting which of course is in the USA.

5. Lois Ehlert: Top Cat . Top Cat rules the house until a new kitten arrives. At first he doesn't want to share but then finds that 2 can be more fun than one. The text is in large print but the vocabulary is beyond most basic school children. Suitable for read-aloud and discussion.

Lois Ehlert has written and illustrated more than 25 children's books, many of them about the natural environment in the USA, so the birds and plants she mentions would not be familiar to Jamaican children.

6. Ed Emberley: Go Away, Big Green Monster! Kids can turn the pages and watch the monster grow then disappear. Pictures provide clues for the simple text.
 Ed Emberley is the author and illustrator of over 80 books.

7. Ian Falconer: Olivia Have fun with Olivia, dressing up, singing songs and wearing people out. Pre-readers can 'read' a story from the delightful pictures, and, with some help, the text is manageable for emergent readers.
Ian Falconer has written and illustrated 10 more Olivia books.

8. Denise Fleming: In the Tall, Tall Grass  - what a caterpillar would see. A few words of simple text in large letters on each page. Children would soon learn to recognize these words. I would like to see this book in every basic school in Jamaica.
Denise Fleming is the author and illustrator of 15 picture books.

9. Mem Fox: Koala Lou A delightful book for parents or teachers to read aloud to younger children and for older children to read for themselves.
Mem Fox had written dozens of children's books and promotes literacy. She gives good advice in her 10 commandments for reading aloud.     

10. Kevin Henkes: Chrysanthemum Text good for reading aloud and discussion.
Kevin Henkes is the author and illustrator of close to 50 picture books.

11. Jarrett J. Krosoczka: Peanut Butter and Jellyfish - a story of friendship. This is another read-aloud book, but non-readers, after hearing it, would be able to tell the story from the pictures.

12. Bill Martin, Jr.:  Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - the letters of the alphabet race one another to the top of the coconut tree. Another book I would like every basic school to have. The rhythmic text would soon be memorized by children. It is available as a board book which would prolong its life when handled by

children. I also recommend Chicka Chicka 1 2 3, by the same author.

13. Jerry Pinkney: The Lion and the Mouse and The Tortoise and the Hare  Children who are struggling with letter recognition can successfully read well-known fables in these two beautifully illustrated wordless books.

14. David Shannon: No, David  I say 'yes' to this book, which highlights all the things David mustn't do. "No, David" is written on every page. There are other suitable books by this author illustrator.

15. Rosemary Wells: Yoko  Yet another read-aloud book, but I included it because of its cultural diversity. Although Yoko is disguised here as a cat, from her name and the text she is unmistakably Japanese. Rosemarie Wells has written other books

about Yoko which would also be well-worth purchasing.

16. Mo Willems: Don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus  Teachers, when you read this book to children, they will answer the questions! As children become more fluent readers they will be able to read the simple text for themselves. There are several more pigeon books.

My final comment is a plea to make more books available to Jamaican children, especially in Basic Schools. If you are Jamaican, living abroad, paying a visit to Jamaica, why not purchase a few of these books to donate to a Basic School near to where you will be staying?

Chetwood Memorial Primary Parenting Workshop 2012

Library at Chetwood Memorial where workshop was held

I applaud Chetwood Memorial Primary School for using an innovative way of explaining to parents how they can work along with the school in helping children to learn to read.

   On Wednesday, November 14, 2012, they invited selected parents to a workshop on "Creating and Maintaining a Literate Home Environment". Ms. Donna Clarke and her team of teachers gave a power-point presentation, starting with a case study. "A boy who spends most of his time watching TV, fails his Grade 4 Literacy Test, so his mother keeps him from school as a punishment." The parents’ responses were as follows:
• The mother should have had a discussion with the boy’s teacher.
Children like to read comics. If they don’t want to read books, allow them to read comics until their reading is good enough for them to read books.
• One father said that he likes to play football with his son. He also likes to read, so they read before playing football.

After these responses, the presentation moved on to suggestions for helping children with reading.
The notes below are taken from the brochures handed out at the meeting. The comments in blue italics are mine.
Facilitating Reading at Home.
• Be a model. Don’t expect reading to be important to your children if they don’t see you reading. Parents who can't read or have difficulty reading, could find a relative or friend to be a model.
• Start as early as possible. One year old is not too early. There are books written for that age group.
• Set aside a time for reading. Excellent suggestion.
• Surround them with reading materials.
• Give a book for a gift. I endorse this heartily.
• Encourage your child to swap books with friends. They can start a book club, with each child buying a different book or getting a book as a gift.
• Allow your children to select materials for reading. They probably won't like what you choose for them.

• Put specific times on your calendar each week when you will spend time with your children. During that time focus your love and attention on your child:

1. Read a book – talk about the characters, who are the main characters, what you like and dislike about the characters, what are their personalities? Which character do you think is most like you? If this seems too much like school to your child, just let them enjoy the story.
2. Watch a movie and ask the child to retell the story in his or her words. Be prepared to listen for a long time!
3. Play puzzles, crosswords, word games such as word Bingo and boards games – these will help develop children’s thinking skills. These should be fun. If they seem like a chore to your child, that defeats their purpose.
• Extend your child’s general knowledge by looking up a ‘fact of the week’ together. Good idea.
• Word of the week: find the meaning, make sentences, find synonyms and autonyms for the word (for older children) and cut the word out in its shape.(For children not yet reading. The shape of words is how children recognize them by 'look and say')
• Limit TV viewing on school nights – use it as an incentive for reading.
• DEAR stands for Drop Everything and Read. During DEAR time, everyone in the family sits down for some uninterrupted reading time. (Chetwood Memorial does this every day.)
• Check homework every night. Most important. Even if the parent can't read, it shows they are taking an interest.

Selecting Reading Materials
This is one of the most difficult things for parents to do. Taking the child to the library is a good way of finding out what they like. Don't worry if they choose something you think is too easy for them. It is all reading practice. If they choose something they later find is too hard, read it to them and let it guide their choice the next time.
When selecting books consider the following:
• Age
• Interest
• Reading level
• Purpose
• Length of text
• Size of print

Developing Reading and Comprehension Skills

• Read, read, read.
• Set a good example by letting your children see you read.
• Before reading a book have your child look at the cover and the inside pictures and predict what the story is about.

 Comprehension materials in the home.

• calendar
• food labels
• newspaper
• posters
• recipe books
• prescriptions
• road signs

Benefits of Reading to/with your children. Yes, Yes to all of these.

• They will develop a love for reading.
• It will help in building the parent-child relationship.
• Help to build confidence.
• It will enable you to recognize strengths and weaknesses in your child's reading.
• You will be a model for your child.

Other Home Activites
Children can

• Write a letter of request if they need to go somewhere.
• Write an apology when they have done something wrong.
• Write a report of incidents involving other siblings.
• Make lists; grocery shopping, books to buy or things to take on trips.

Always remember to celebrate your child's effort and achievements in reading. I would add, "Never say anything negative about a child's reading."

If all parents followed half of these suggestions, it could make a tremendous difference. Unfortunately, many of the parents who were invited didn't attend. This year I'm helping eight children in grade 2 who aren't up to standard in reading. All of their parents were invited to the workshop, but only one came. We need to change the mindset that it's solely the school's responsibility to teach children to read. Parents, please step up to the plate.