Some Karen Some Don’t: Read Alouds

Some Karen Some Don’t: Read Alouds

Read Alouds. I was kinda stumped when picking a topic to write about this month. I’ve been reading a great big huge book about the history of autism and it’s taking me a long time to finish. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a really great book but I have to take breaks to consider what I’m reading or read a kids book to lighten the reading mood. But then it dawned on me… I’ve created a mystery book game at the library for the month of March. It’s called “Bunny Books” and the kids/families check out a brown paper wrapped book, read it and bring it back to the library where they can enter a drawing for one of my Easter baskets full of books & goodies. Since it is for younger kids, 3-10, and because families don’t know what they are taking, I choose lots of classic read-aloud books.

It’s been fun watching the kids get excited to read a ‘mystery’ book and get pumped about something they probably would not have picked themselves.

Reading aloud to children is one of the single most important things that a person can do with kids to develop language.  The one-on-one nature of reading with a child creates a warm & happy memory of books and reading that children will carry with them during those hard, learning to read years when kids forget that reading is fun. Reading together helps kids use their imaginations and find the joy in listening to a story. It also gives children to practice a super important trait… listening which seems to be a lost art.

And it’s not just little kids that need to be read too, big kids need read aloud time to! Older kids reading level and listening levels don’t match up until around the 8th grade so reading with your older children helps them develop their listening. It also allows them to hear the richness of language and enjoy the complexities of a plot which should in turn motivate continued reading on their own. Also, older kids are often pulling away from their parents/families as they explore who they are outside of home. Reading together will provide together time and opportunities for open communication about tough subjects that come up in a story.

So, here’s a list of a *few* of my favorite books that I suggest when I’m asked for a good read aloud. These are primarily aimed at younger audiences. When reading with big kids let them help select which books to read.

CLASSIC Read Alouds

• Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
• Stuart Little by E. B. White
• The Box Car Children by Gertrude Warner
• The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald
• Betsy Tacy by Maud Heart Lovelace
• Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
• Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
• Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
• The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum
• Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
• Popper’s Penguin’s by Richard & Florence Atwater
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
• Piggle Wiggle by Betty McDonald
• Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
• From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

CONTEMPORY Read Alouds

• How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
• Wonder by R. J. Palacio
• One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
• Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
• Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lei
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
• Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein
• The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
• The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Man, I could go on & on & on!

There are so many great books out there to share.

Check them out from your library or invest in a few for yourself the children in your life.

I’d also love to hear what books you have enjoyed reading with kids or books you remember being read to you.