Born to Read

In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought a look at a program geared toward encouraging children to become "book lovers" might be a good topic for this posting. There are a number of programs and reasons why or why not they would be featured here. I chose the following because of, now don't laugh, the logo. It has a heart, and being "I heart you" day I went with it. Plus, it seems to have what appears to be a worthy purpose and mission.

Born to Read is a program put together by the ALA (American Library Association). "The joy of sharing books is a gift you can give children from the time they are born. Chanting nursery rhymes, singing songs, and reading stories can comfort and entertain even the youngest child. Listening to language lays the ground work for reading."

Of course, most of us have heard, experienced, or know that reading makes a difference in a child's life. Although reading from the time they are little makes a significant impact, but it is never to late to interest a child in reading. The key is to find what interests them and go from there, but this really applies to all readers of all ages. Also, we need to remember that fiction books are not the only types of reading that are available. Many kids like science books on volcanoes or space, some like learning about animals, and others are interested in far away places. So, get a variety and let them choose.

Some of ALA's baby to preschooler book suggestions include:
Brown, Margaret Wise. Goodnight Moon. Illustrated by Clement Hurd. HarperCollins, 1947.
Cousins, Lucy. Maisy Drives. Candlewick, 2001.
Dunrea, Olivier. Gossie and Gertie. Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
Fleming, Denise. The Everything Book. Henry Holt, 2000.
George, Kristine O'Connell. Book!. Illustrated by Maggie Smith. Clarion, 2001.
Hindley, Judy. Eyes, Nose, Fingers, and Toes. Illustrated by Brita Granstrom. Candlewick, 2002.
Intrater, Roberta Grobel. Peek-a-Boo, You. Scholastic/Cartwheel, 2002.
Isadora, Rachel. Peekaboo Morning. Putnam, 2002.
Martin, Bill, Jr. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Illustrated by Eric Carle. Holt, 1984.
Meyers, Susan. Everywhere Babies. Illustrated by Marla Frazee. Harcourt, 2001.
Opie, Iona, ed. My Very First Mother Goose. Illustrated by Rosemary Wells. Candlewick, 1996.
Rosen, Michael. We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Little Simon, 1997.
Wells, Rosemary. Max's Bedtime. Dial, 1998.
Wilner, Isabel. The Baby's Game Book. Illustrated by Sam Williams. Greenwillow, 2000.

Find the heart of a book.