Exploring Books With Your Preschooler

October 07, 2008

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Exploring Books With Your Preschooler

by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P.
reviewed by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P.

Preschool children have wonderful imaginations. In their minds, magic really can and does happen. Feeling happy makes the sun come out. Wanting something very badly can make it come true, but talking about it can be a "jinx." Because they don't have a lot of experience of how the world works, young children are able to believe many things that older children reject (Santa Claus, for example). In a sense, they live in a world that their imagination creates.

It's natural, then, that preschoolers love picture books. Listening to a story, a young child's face is utterly absorbed, her eyes wide. Another child needs to keep moving around (the restless energy of some preschoolers is really a force of nature!), but still manages to catch every word. You know that a child is caught up in the imaginative world of a book when she responds with real emotions-joy, sadness, or fear-to events in the book. Characters from the book are apt to come alive in her play. Words from the book sneak into her vocabulary.

How preschoolers enjoy books
Preschool children, like people of all ages, want to feel a sense of control. One way is to choose the book. Although some preschoolers can handle choosing one book from a shelf full, many need smaller choices (say, one of three books) to feel comfortable. Another way preschoolers enjoy a sense of control is by memorizing books. They may not recall every word, but often can fill in a word at the end of a line, especially if there is a rhyme (see Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Did You See? for a classic example of this.) Since they can predict what's coming next, they feel that the book is really theirs.

When a child chooses the same book over and over, that's a sign that there is something in that book that is very important to her. It may be an idea (for example, the idea of overcoming an obstacle, as in Three Billy Goats Gruff) or a visual image (perhaps the picture of the troll under the bridge), or even just a single word. Whatever it is, once the child completely understands it, she usually moves on to a new book.

Things to do
Here are some tips for loving books with your preschool child:

Have books all over the house, in the living room, the bathroom, by the kitchen table; and especially, in her bedroom.

Make bedtime or waking up in the morning, or both, regular times for reading together. Let your child tell you when she's had enough. But also stop when you have had enough! It's great if children love books, but it's also important that grownups set limits with reading, as with everything else.

Limit TV viewing. I personally feel that a no-TV diet is perfect for preschoolers. The vivid images on TV (even, or especially, in cartoons) tend to overwhelm their sensitive imaginations so that there is no space left for the quieter, but still compelling, images from books.

Use your public library. Many libraries have story hours and play groups, small child-size tables and chairs, and, of course, a huge selection of books to choose from. An outing to the library can feel special, even if it happens every week.

Make up stories yourself and encourage your preschooler to help you. If you come up with a story you really like, write it down. You can make your own story book, then read it aloud.

Research shows that preschool children learn a lot about reading by writing. Writing starts as scribbling, but over time you'll see letters begin to emerge, then words. You don't need to formally teach your young child to write; writing emerges from an interest in drawing and a curiosity about words, and how these magic symbols go from something you hear to something you see, and back again.

Talk about:

Reading and Your Child


RELATED INFORMATION

			Choosing Non-Racist, Non-Sexist Books
			Reading Aloud: Nurturing Literacy

Created February 26, 2001
Reviewed August 26, 2004

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