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What’s your experience when it comes to reading books to kids? Bought some books for my nephew and I’m pretty excited to read them to him. If anyone has any tips or sweet stories then feel free to share :)
One good thing you can do is to talk about the characters and story during and after reading. You can ask them what they liked and why, and you can also get them to use their imagination with what you read.
How old? Advice will vary widely depending on your nephew's age.
He's three so this will be his first encounter with reading as far as I know. I bought him a book of fairytales, Goodnight Moon, and one of those "I Can Read!" books so he can try his hand at reading at some point.
I've done some reading with a friend's kid around that age. Some tips: 1. Try to engage audio, visual, and tactile senses all at once. Trace the word on the page (or use his finger to trace the word) while saying it. From what I understand, this can help build vocab a lot faster. 2. If it's a book the two of you have read before, try pausing sometimes to let him fill in a word. Maybe whisper it to him to give him a hint. If it's a picture book, you can also point to the object on the page. 3. Be very patient and don't be surprised if he loses interest abruptly in the middle of whatever you're reading.
Never read to kids, but I have an ex-girlfriend who was a bit dim, and I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to her, which she loved or she said she did. Obviously helps if you animate your voice lots and perhaps do accents along with it. Also, kids are little gremlins and love gross stuff so don't be a prude and restrict them to sanitised baby books.
Oh yeah I'm definitely planning to introduce some Roald Dahl and some Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark too
I read constantly to both my kids until they were about 8 or 9, from baby board books that were more chewed than viewed up to chapter books. I loved it and they did too. There's good advice already on this thread but I'd say: - Make it come alive with your voice. Vary your tone, pitch, volume etc to add drama, comedy, suspense... Pause dramatically. Emphasise rhyme and meter. I hear so many adults reading to kids in this awful monotonous "reading" tone of voice. - If it's a book the kid knows well, or a book with a refrain, let them fill in the best/signature bits. - Don't be afraid to break the narration to talk about what's happening. It depends on the book of course, sometimes you don't want to break the momentum, but I'd ask the kid questions from time to time so they can put themselves in the characters' shoes. Would you do that? Which of those would you choose? Why? Then quickly back to the story. William Steig books are amazing for this. - Take turns choosing the book. This lets the kid enjoy their faves but prevents it from becoming too repetitive. I used to take them to the library and say, you pick 5, I pick 5. - Read irreverently. If the book sucks, make fun of it. If a rhyme is terrible (looking at you, Stan & Jan Berenstain) it's OK to say it through gritted teeth or even substitute an improvement.