I love reading to my kids. Books are a great way to encourage social emotional skills, increase the attention span of little ones, increase comprehension, build background knowledge, improve vocabulary and influence their love for reading.
It is a great way to connect, and to successfully engage them. It opens up the door to some amazing conversations with little ones. I am sharing some read alouds of some of the books we love. There is a lot more on my youtube channel and I hope you check them out. I am sharing a few of them here.
What to do when you feel like hitting | Cara Goodwin | Katie Turner |
This is a fantastic no hitting book for toddlers. Toddlers go through a myriad of emotions and because they are so small, they do not know how to self regulate emotions and their feelings. The great thing about this book is that all feelings are considered normal and it is ok to feel happy, sad, scared or mad. The focus of the book it to emphasise that hitting hurts and is unsafe and what toddlers can do instead when they feel like hitting. How they can use their hands to calm themselves or seek help from a grown up.
I Don’t Want To Be Quiet| Written & Illustrated by Laura Ellen Anderson
I don’t want to be quiet is a story of a boisterous little girl who loves being loud. She loves making noises wherever she goes . However one day at the library, she realizes that her love for noises is not shared by the readers at the library. She picks up a book and is completely spellbound while she quietly sits and reads, and gradually discovers the benefits of being quiet sometimes.
Sharing A Shell| Written by Julia Donaldson | Illustrated by Lydia Monks |
A beautiful story about friendship, sharing, teamwork and recognising individual strengths with a sing song rhythm and bright colourful and eye catching illustrations. The story is about a crab, an anemone (purple blob) and bristle-worm (brush) who share a shell together. However, the shell gets too small and they struggle to share the same living space. They go on their separate paths and end up feeling lonely and sad. Then there is a big storm. Do they eventually get back together? Watch the story to find out. 🙂
The Koala Who Could | By Rachel Bright and Jim Field |
Change is the only constant. Kevin, a cute little Koala bear learns to embrace change in this heartwarming story. Kevin loves clinging on to his tree and though he is tempted to go and play with the other animal friends, he is too scared to let go off his tree or to venture into the loud, busy world. His life remains the same until one day the tree crashes to the ground and he finally un-clings. He realises that it is not too scary on the ground after all.
How To Be a Lion | Written and Illustrated by Ed Vere |
How to be a lion is a delightful story that has gorgeous illustrations and beautiful text. The book celebrates the friendship between Leonard, a gentle lion and his friend Marianne, a duck. The story conveys the importance of accepting differences, staying true to yourself and expressing disagreement in a calm and healthy manner and so much more.
The Little Red Hen | Written and Illustrated by Paul Galdone |
The Little Red Hen is a timeless classic about an overworked hen who lives in a house with her three lazy friends- a cat, a dog and a mouse. The lazy friends learn about the importance of hard work at the end of the story. This story is also a great way of introducing the steps involved in making a cake starting from planting the wheat, cutting it and grinding it to get fine white flour and ultimately baking it. It is an absolutely adorable story that the little ones never get bored of.