Studies often show that children who enjoy reading perform better in school. So, take your preschooler to the library as often as you can, and get your child his or her own library card as soon as it’s realistic. Ask your librarian for help finding books that will appeal to your child, and also give your child the freedom to choose his or her own books.
Read to your child at bedtime, at the library and more. Let your child read to you, as well. Even if he or she can’t really read yet, it’s likely your child will enjoy telling you the story of a well-loved book. Also give your child space to store favorite books that he or she can return to, repeatedly. Finally, let your child “catch” you reading—and enjoying the experience. You can find more tips to encourage the love of reading in your preschooler at ReadBrightly.com.
Now, here are three recommendations for books preschoolers will love.
Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Peck
Iggy Peck loves to build things, and he is pretty creative in his choice of building materials—such as a tower crafted from dirty diapers. Iggy is creative and independent, but he runs into a problem when his second-grade teacher announces she doesn’t like architecture. Your child will enjoy discovering how Iggy solves this problem and will be delighted with the rhyming text and quirky illustrations. You’ll appreciate how this irreverent character can make the concept of architecture cool. Here is Iggy Peck, Architect. If your preschooler likes this book, check out Rosie Revere, Engineer and Ada Twist, Scientist next.
Giant Pants by Mark Fearing
First, a prelude. An article in PopSugar.com makes an excellent point: While there are plenty of great children’s books to choose from, they all too often teach lessons. And, sure, it’s great to learn lessons—but it’s also wonderful to just plain laugh. A “good giggle,” the article reminds us, “decreases stress, encourages bonding and boosts the immune system.”
One of the eight books they recommend for that uncontrollable laughter is Giant Pants. In this book, we meet Belbum, a giant who has many talents, including stomping and napping. Unfortunately, he is also quite good at losing things and, in the book, he loses his pants. After he looks all over for them, he decides to borrow a pair from a friend. But, the cyclops only wears a tunic, and the gnome’s pants are way too small. The unicorn? He doesn’t even wear pants!
So, Belbum needs to walk to the tailor, clad only in his underwear. If this book teaches a lesson, it’s that you sometimes need to keep your head up as you deal with the consequences of losing one of your important belongings.
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
In a world where we’re surrounded by increasingly complex technology, it is marvelous to escape to this book, one where Harold goes for a moonlight walk with only an oversized purple crayon for company. The duo walks through woods, sails seas and faces dragons, with Harold drawing a wonderful landscape along the way. This book contains fun surprises and demonstrates the power of the imagination. Here is Harold and the Purple Crayon.
