Book Review

BOOKS!  I can't emphasize the importance of reading books to your kids.  It teaches them so much, and they pick up on more things than we even realize.  Here are some essential skills that are strengthened when you read to your kids:

- Text/Print Awareness
- Vocabulary
- Narrative Skills  (sequencing and telling stories)
- Story Grammar (the essentials of story-telling: character, setting, problem, feeling, ending)
- Rhyming
- Letter Knowledge
- Inference
- Prediction
- Listening Skills
- Attention Skills (Yes! It can be taught!)
- Plus it's bonding and it helps your child relax and feel safe.

And it's never too early to start reading to your child.  In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends starting by 6 months!  

Anyway.

Here's a great book.  It's called "Roadwork" by Sally Sutton.  It's great for kids ages 1-3.  And boys would especially like all the trucks and machinery in it.  I like it because it's slightly repetitive, which kids enjoy and it helps aid learning.  It teaches rhyming.  It experiments with sounds and rhyming which adds an element of fun.  The words are nice and big.  And overall it teaches that building a road involves lots of steps and they happen in a certain order.  Kids need to start learning how to sequence things and how to describe steps in different processes; such as building a road, making a peanut butter sandwich, or how to build a snowman.

All that in one little book?  You bet.  So go to your local library today and find a new gem.