Reading to kids gets them interested in reading the stories themselves. They will want to do the voices, the sound-effects, and point to items in the pictures. But most of all, they want to know WHAT IS HAPPENING and so, they need to know how to read to get to the story itself.

When you read to children, they learn about the meaning of words on a page and how words tell a story. Read to them in a way that encourages their participateion in the story. Here's how to make reading enjoyable (for you, too):

Select books that reflect a child's own experiences, such as daily life, family members, or animals.

Pick a comfortable spot to snuggle up.

Get books that children can touch and hold.

Encourage children to help choose the books you read.

Read books that have rhyme, rhythm, and repetition. The sound of language is especially important for infants who cannot yet focus on pictures.

Use different voices for different characters or emotions. Act it out. Make noises.

Ask questions about pictures and characters as you go along. What do children see in the story?

Ask children what they think will happen next in the story. Does it?

Above all: make reading fun and adventurous for kids. Get them excited about reading. It's a tough skill to learn, but the rewards are immense--our whole society opens up for readers. And, the more they read, the better readers they will become.

Reading grows the mind.

At Arroyo Vista Library, we read a story every week to every class. We read samples from all parts of our collection to give our students a taste as well as a feeling for the range of English literature. Here are some additional resources for you (in addition to those on the main library page):

www.scholastic.com/kids/index--books (mainly from Scholastic, of course) for children 6 to 13. Activities, contests and games related to such page-turners as Goosebumps.

www.eduplace.com/kids--Houghton Mifflin's kid site has kid peer reviews of classics like Beverly Cleary's Beezus and Ramona and Shel Silverstein's Falling Up.