While browsing the Web last summer, looking at reading sites, I found this great one from the Brooklyn Public Library, the New York Public Library and Queens Library. These are excellent tips!
10 Tips for Growing Readers
1: Read to children from the time they are born. It's never too young to start!
2: Set aside a special time to read when you and your family are relaxed.
3:Children enjoy setting the pace of reading time. Encourage them to turn pages.
4: If they are not ready to sit and listen quietly, read to children while they are playing or exploring. Active children learn on the move.
5:Many children like to hear the same story again and again. It comforts them and develops language skills.
6:Read together on the go, waiting on line, and at the park.
7:Sing to your children. Sing songs from your childhood or make up silly songs. You can also find lyrics to your favorite songs online or at the library.
8:Read Mother Goose and nursery rhymes together. They are short, playful, and build vocabulary.
9:Show kids you love books. Keep books and magazines at home and let them catch you reading!
10:Visit the library often to choose books and enjoy programs together.
Very much enjoyed reading your blog and appreciate your encouragement to take our children to the library. I have always loved going to the library with our girls! When we lived in Cincinnati and Minneapolis, we went to the library even during heavy snows, in our snow boots. When we moved to Davis, we would pack a picnic lunch whenever we visited the library and would enjoy the books we had just checked out on the benches outside the library as we ate our lunch. I agree that books can be very comforting. When our Heather was 3, we read Miss Tizzy by Libba Moore Gray every day for months and she found great comfort in reading that book together. Appreciate your love for reading-- You are a great blessing!