1. REACH OUT AND READ WISCONSIN 2018 Annual Meeting
Choosing Books for Young Children

2. Infants: birth to 6 months

3. Infants: birth to 6 months

4. Infants: birth to 6 months

5. Infants: birth to 6 months

6. Infants: birth to 6 months

7. Infants: birth to 6 months

8. Infants: birth to 6 months
What interests them
Listening to caregiver’s voice
Themselves and other babies
Faces
Mirrors
Familiar objects
Repeated sounds

9. Infants: birth to 6 months
What to look for in books
Sturdy board books
Photos of babies
No text
Big pictures with high contrast
Interactive components: mirrors
Books you can sing: Twinkle, Twinkle

10. Babies: 6 to 12 months

11. Babies: 6 to12 months

12. Babies: 6 to 12 months

13. Babies: 6 to 12 months

14. Babies: 6 to 12 months What interests them Themselves and other babies
Faces
Familiar objects
Sounds like “choo choo”
Repeated sounds

15. Babies: 6 to 12 months What to look for in books Sturdy board books
Photos of babies
Interactive components: peepholes, puppets
Small books sized for small hands
One object per page so parents can point and name

16. Babies: 6 to 12 months What to look for in books, cont.
Bold, clear, colorful pictures
Books with pictures of things they see every day: balls, bottles, chairs, dogs
No text or minimal text related directly to the pictures

17. Younger Toddlers: 12 to 24 months

18. Younger toddlers: 12 to 24 months

19. Younger toddlers: 12 to 24 months

20. Younger toddlers: 12 to 24 months

21. Younger toddlers: 12 to 24 months

22. Younger toddlers: 12 to 24 months

23. Younger toddlers: 12 to 24 months

24. Younger toddlers: 12 to 24 months
What interests them
Familiar objects
Daily routines
Cars, trains, airplanes
Animals
Beginning concepts: opposites
Hearing the same story again and again

25. Younger toddlers: 12 to 24 months
What to look for in books
Sturdy board books they can handle and carry
Books with bold, clear pictures
Books about saying hello and goodbye
Goodnight books for bedtime
Children doing familiar things: sleeping, eating, playing

26. Younger toddlers: 12 to 24 months
What to look for in books, cont.
Books with pictures that invite sound-making: cows, sheep, trains, planes, etc.
Books with simple rhymes, predictable text or repetitive text
Simple search and find books
No more than 1-2 sentences per page

27. Older toddlers: 2 to 3 years

28. Older toddlers: 2 to 3 years

29. Older toddlers: 2 to 3 years

30. Older toddlers: 2 to 3 years

31. Older toddlers: 2 to 3 years

32. Older toddlers: 2 to 3 years

33. Older toddlers: 2 to 3 years
What interests them
Familiar routines
Seasons
Family
Neighborhood
Animals (often specific species)
Beginning concepts: ABCs, counting, colors

34. Older toddlers: 2 to 3 years
What to look for in books
Board books give way to paper pages
Books with more detailed illustrations
Simple stories with a beginning, middle and end
Use of patterned text
Introduce basic concepts: number, shapes

35. Older toddlers: 2 to 3 years
What to look for in books, cont.
Books that reflect the child’s world and interests
Silly and funny books
Books about children and families, food, animals, trucks and other favorite objects
Books with rhyme, rhythm and repeated text they can learn by heart
Books with children that look like them

36. Younger preschoolers: 3 to 4 years

37. Younger preschoolers: 3 to 4 years

38. Younger preschoolers: 3 to 4 years

39. Younger preschoolers: 3 to 4 years

40. Younger preschoolers: 3 to 4 years

41. Younger preschoolers: 3 to 4 years

42. Younger preschoolers: 3 to 4 years
What interests them
The natural world
Community helpers
Friends and family
Humor and nonsense
Specific interests (“pockets of expertise”)

43. Younger preschoolers: 3 to 4 years
What to look for in books
Books with longer stories and simple plots
Stories that have a clear narrative arc
Books about families – especially if they have siblings
Books about different children and people

44. Younger preschoolers: 3 to 4 years
What to look for in books, cont.
Books that are predictable or totally silly
Books where the pictures tell part of the story
Books that reflect the child’s interests
Books where children experience different emotions
Books with children that look like them

45. Older Preschoolers: 4 to 5 years

46. Older preschoolers: 4 to 5 years

47. Older preschoolers: 4 to 5 years

48. Older preschoolers: 4 to 5 years

49. Older preschoolers: 4 to 5 years
What interests them
Friends and family
Community
School
Science
Past, present and future
Specific interests
More complicated story plots

50. Older preschoolers: 4 to 5 years
What to look for in books
More complex stories
Books about kids who look like and live like them – but also books about different places and different ways of living
Stories about family, friendship, school
Books that reflect their interests
Stories that inspire the imagination

51. Thanks to Appleton Public library for loaning several titles
Books4School for donating several titles