Last year, I read about this fun little idea on one of my favorite crafty, creative children's blogs, The Imagination Tree. The idea, "5-a-day-books," is simple: pick five of your favorite stories (either from home or the library) and read them with your child every day for at least a week. The point is to help familiarize children with the words, rhythm, meter, inflection, and all of the other wonderful literacy skills that come from reading (and being read to) aloud. Picture books with strong rhythm or repetitive verses tend to work best, since children can memorize and recall such stories more easily than others. As mentioned on the Imagination Tree, reading books in this way empowers children "to be able to "read" and re-tell stories from a young age, and also makes them very fluent in a range of text types and literature styles."
I loved this idea, and have come back to it with my little ones from time to time. If you're like we are, you'll probably realize that you already do this to some extent anyway, so it won't be hard to try. I think most children go through phases of favorite books; I know mine certainly do. I have had some of our favorite stories memorized for ages, as has my son, and I love when I hear him quoting books while he is playing.
A friend of mine heard about this today, too, and asked if I wanted to do it with her. Of course, I said yes! So, I figured I'd share a post about 5-a-day books on here today, as well, in case any of you would like to join in on the fun! Feel free to post your list of five-a-day books in the comments below, or jump over to the Imagination Tree to share your books there. While my son has been wanting to read some of the same books every night lately, I figured I'd start with my daughter's list, especially since her favorites at the moment have all been featured on the blog somewhere along the way. Happy reading!
Book 1: Listen, Listen by Phillis Gershator
Book 2: Bear On a Bike by Stella Blackstone
Book 3: Bear's Birthday by Stella Blackstone (little E is rather obsessed with Bear these days)
Book 4: Spot Loves His Daddy by Eric Hill (my link is for Spot Loves His Mommy, but I figure it's close enough :)
Book 5: From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
Enjoy, and please feel free to share your list below!
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