Motivating Readers: More Books About Reading

This month on Literacy Toolbox, I will share ways parents and educators can motivate children to become readers and writers.  This is especially necessary at the beginning of the school year when teachers are building their classroom communities.

Last week, I posted Motivating Readers, Again: Books About Reading where I shared several books that could motivate children to want to read.  Sometimes all it takes is one book to engage a child who may be reluctant to read.  It’s now the beginning of the school year for many and the perfect time to entice a new reader.  After a jaunt to the bookstore the other day, here are two more books that explore reading as a topic.

Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates is about a dog who loves books so much he decides to open his own bookstore.  After a few false starts, he finally receives a customer who wants a book.  And Dog, being an avid reader, knows just what to recommend.  This is a short book that demonstrates fairly simply how a reader can lose himself in a book.  A good, quick read to motivate a reader in your life.

In Calvin Can’t Fly: The Story of a Bookworm Birdie by Jennifer Berne, Calvin is a starling who is different from his three brothers, four sisters, and sixty-seven thousand four hundred thirty-two cousins.  Instead of learning to fly like the rest of his family, Calvin prefers to bury himself in books.  So, when the family flies south and encounters a storm, will Calvin come to the rescue with knowledge he’s learned from reading?

Do you have innovative ways to motivate kids (specifically reluctant readers) to read?  I would love to hear them!

©2010 by Dawn Little for Literacy Toolbox. All Rights Reserved.  All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Parent Reading Resources: Picture Books

This month I plan to post resources to help parents as they try to raise a reader.  Perhaps through the resources I share, you’ll find something to help you engage your child in reading over the summer (and beyond!).

Over the weekend, I started thinking about how I might be able to shake things up a bit around my own house this summer.  We read all the time, and often times I wonder if my kids are getting a bit bored with the books we read.  I certainly do sometimes!  So, I decided to turn to my Twitter friends and Facebook followers to get their opinion on picture books.  I asked for their top two favorite new or semi-new picture books.

I figure, if I feel the need to shake things up a bit in my house this summer, you just might feel the same!  So, I’m super excited to share the list with you.  I’ve listed contributors by their Twitter name and if they have a blog, I’ve noted that as well:

@beckymaher suggested Can I Play Too? (An Elephant and Piggie Book) and City Dog, Country Frog both by Mo Willems (and if you are a regular reader of Literacy Toolbox, then you know I love MO!)

@TeachJohnson suggested Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio

Justine blogs at Random Thoughts of a Teacher

@Cathy_Blackler suggested  Adios, Oscar!: A Butterfly Fable by Peter Elwell

Cathy blogs at Picture Books, Novels and Bios, Oh My!

@TWRCtankcom suggested Piggie Pie! by Margie Palatini and Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs by Alan Katz

Julie blogs at TWRCtank

My current favorites are My Garden by Kevin Henkes and Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct
by Mo Willems.  The latter isn’t exactly new, but is a current favorite.  And, while I have heard of all of the books recommended here, I have not read any of them to my children yet, so I believe a trip to the book store or the library is in order today (the first day of summer vaca for my kiddos!)

What are your top two favorite picture books to read with children? Leave them in the comments or join the discussion on Facebook!

©2010 by Dawn Little for Literacy Toolbox. All Rights Reserved.  All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.