Giving The Gift Of Reading: 10 Books To Share With A Preschool Child (NAPSA)—It’s one of the most important presents you can give a child—thegift of reading. To help parents and families instill the love of books in their kids, Jumpstart, the national early education nonprofit organization, has gift ideas and advice that foster the early learning and educational development of preschool children. Choosing books young s Pian tten children will love During the preschool years, children build the foundation for reading and writing. They begin to understand humor and silliness, and they appreciate rhyming or catchy text. Good children’s books contain engagingillustrations that contribute to telling the story and depict multicultural diversity. In general, avoid books with too much drama or conflict and about cartoons on television. The large selection of original children’s literature does much more for expanding children’s worlds and imagination. Jumpstart’s Top 10 book picks Jumpstart has gathered a list of favorite children’s books to give to and read with a child: “Each Peach, Pear, Plum” (Janet and Allan Ahlberg, Picture Puffins) “The Mitten” (Jan Brett, G.P. Putnam’s Sons) e “Very Hungry Caterpillar” (Eric Carle, Philomel Books) “Abuela” (Arthur Dorros, Dutton) “Corduroy” (Don Freeman, Viking Children’s Books) “The Paper Bag Princess” (Robert Munsch, Munsch for Kids) e “Kissing Hand” (Audrey Pen, Child Welfare League of America) * “Goodnight Gorilla” (Peggy Rathmann, G.P. Putnam’s Sons) “The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear” (Audrey Wood and Don Wood, Child’s Play International, Ltd.) “Owl Moon” (Jane Yolen and John Schoenherr, Philomel Books) “The Mitten” is one of Jumpstart’s Top 10 book picks. Readingtips To help you make the most of your time reading with children, use thesetips as a helpful guide: 1. Introduce the book for the first time by talking about the title, author, and illustrator. 2. Read the entire story and point to each word as youreadit. 3. Ask one or two questions per page. 4. Don’t say the last word in a sentence. Prompt the child to complete the sentence for you. 5. Ask questions about what happened in the story after you havereadit. 6. Ask questions from the story that might relate to the child’s life. Children are more likely to enjoy being read to when they know the story or are captivated by the topic. Jumpstart Spark Card You can also give the gift of reading by providing hours of quality one-to-one attention and reading time to children in need with the Jumpstart Spark Card. The Jumpstart Spark Card provides a trained college student and a preschool child the opportunity to spend more time together reading, sharing experiences, learning, and building skills that provide the foundation for future success in school andinlife. For more tips on how to support your child’s learning, or to order a Jumpstart Spark Card, visit www.jstart.org.
