I Suggest You Ignore All Suggestions
Read Babies Books with More Words AND...
Hi hello! How are you?
Los Angeles is still battling fires, Trump has entered the White House, and on the home front, my three-year-old absolutely refuses to be consistently potty trained. Roll the dice, she will either have a perfect accident-free day, or she will wet herself with reckless abandon and sit in her own wet, uncomplaining, and thus unnoticed until she decides to move. All of this is a lot to navigate. Please, can LA stop burning, can Trump stop being…Trump, and can my child stop willfully wetting herself? Perhaps not.
Now that I have opened that can and poked those worms, let us shut it back up and move on to less squiggly and hard-to-look-at stuff. Do you ever want to just skim the surface because the underneath is….too much? Me too.
Last week I got a lot of support from my readers about great protein snacks and ways to sneak in more books when time gets strapped. Thanks for all the heartfelt reminders and excellent suggestions. I will be over here dipping all snacks in chocolate and peanut butter and reading to the kids at the breakfast table because y’all are acing life!
I also reviewed Little i by Micheal Hall and couldn’t quite figure out who it was for. Preschoolers learning their alphabet? School-aged kids learning punctuation rules and how to spell? Upon further reflection, perhaps this ambiguity is the genius of the book. Let me explain.
A month or so ago our dear friends with a new(ish, they grow so fast) baby asked if he should read all the words on the page to his baby, even if the book seemed beyond his baby’s understanding. Enthusiastic YES from me!
In the evening my kids pick two picture books for bedtime, and sometimes my five-year-old will reach for something like Pout Pout Fish or Spooky Pooky, the simplest of board books. Should I read something that is so under his abilities? Another enthusiastic YES from me!
Unless a book has content I am not yet prepared to discuss with my children, and I am willing to discuss most things, then I think it is a book that is appropriate for my child. Here are three simple circumstances you will find me saying an enthusiastic YES to reading books outside of the suggested reading level, and why.
SAY YES TO:
YES to reading longer picture books with many words to tiny babies. This introduction to a broader vocabulary equals better pre-reading preparation. You will know when your baby doesn’t want to look at the page anymore, but as long as the page is holding their interest, feel free to read all the words on it. When they get bigger, you will be surprised by how much they are able to take in and comprehend.
YES to reading board books and “easy” picture books to big kiddos. Sometimes I want to make a difficult new and exciting recipe for dinner, and sometimes I want to make spaghetti. Just because I am capable of making something difficult doesn’t mean I always want to. Let your kids take brain breaks by reaching for familiar and easy books to read that may seem “below” their level. This will keep reading fun for them.
YES to books outside their reading level. When kids start reading for themselves, it is easy to want to stock up on books they can read! But a lot of early readers have very narrow vocabulary and lack plot and character depth. That is great for the kid who is trying to learn to read but is not so great when you are doing the reading. Let them read the early readers, and make sure you still read more challenging picture books. This will keep them exposed to expansive vocabulary, complicated storylines, and compelling characters. The reason we start on the bunny slopes is so we can eventually get to the top of the mountain — keep showing them how cool the top of the mountain can be.
Reading outside of the suggested reading level, both above and below, holds the potential of unexpected treasure for the whole family. Throw age suggestions to the wind and follow your heart. Unexpected Treasure! Awaits!
FROM THE STAX
TINY LITTLE FLY by Michael Rosen Illustrated by Kevin Waldron
One tiny little fly zips from animal to animal, barely getting away each time. With a fun singing rhythm and great onomatopoeia, my kids loved to “guess” what animal the fly had landed on before turning the page.
Bookshop.org does not have this book (ugh) but I learned that Michael Rosen also wrote We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, beautifully illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and one of those board book classics that I will happily read any day of the week to my now big kids. Great for babies and adults, and every age in between.
JOAN PROCTOR: DRAGON DOCTOR by Patricia Valdez Illustrated by Filicita Sala
Meet Joan Proctor and her pet lizard. Based on real life Joan Proctor, a zoologist and trailblazing woman of her time. She loved lizards, amphibians, and the natural world and despite her poor health and lack of resources offered to women ended up with a successful career designing animal enclosures, publishing scientific papers, and working closely with the reptiles she loved.
We love a book that offers a deep dive into a person we have never heard of before, and we especially love it if they deviate from the norm. More lovers of lizards!!
ONE BOY WATCHING by Grant Snider
A long commute to school means ample opportunity to watch (and count) the world outside the school bus window. The illustrations are so soft and beautiful in this book, and there is something about the watchful little protagonist that brought to mind my son, who is coming into his boisterous self, but was watchful first and foremost.
FARMHOUSE by Sophie Blackall
An abandoned farmhouse comes to life with the potential of the stories and lives it once held. Sophie Blackall had my heart with Hello, Lighthouse, and Finding Winnie so I came to this one with high hopes. Farmhouse does not disappoint. One of the most entrancing elements of historical places is the stories that throb right below the surface, real or imagined, like ghosts waiting to perform.
MY GARDEN by Kevin Henkes
A girl helps out in her mother’s garden and daydreams of what magical things she would grow in her own garden.
We love making the mundane magical and imagining what-if scenarios. This book is full of potential what-ifs and magic. A great introduction to or companion for those who know the magic of growing your own garden. Even if you can’t plant a jelly bean and end up with a jelly bean tree (what if!).
Thanks for being here, even when the going gets weird. I hope your child (or partner or pet or refrigerator) isn’t wetting themselves.
If you see a book you think would be perfect for a kid you know, make sure to share this newsletter with their parent and go ahead and find that book for them at your library, or use the links above to support my newsletter and independent bookshops everywhere. Thanks!
What secret treasure library book did you find recently? Tell me all about it. When my kids ask me to read whatever I am reading to them out loud, I go ahead and do it. Unless it is a very steamy romance. That can wait til they are a little older and then I will chase them around reading it out loud to them just to terrorize them. Good idea?
See y’all next week and happy reading!
When my son was a little older I read to him while he bathed (still needed supervision to make sure the soap actually got used) and my favorites were the Carl Hiassan young adult books…Hoot, Flush etc.
Love this advice! My recent find is “Katie, Big and Strong” by Jennifer Cooper. Female weight lifter and suffragist— it became enough of a favorite I just ordered a copy from our local bookstore as a bday gift.