My classroom bookshelf is the most important and popular place to be. I think so, and children certainly feel that way. They congregate like squirrels at a bird feeder. Yes, there are fights over books, loud times, and also quiet times. Sometimes children read alone, and sometimes they read together.
Sometimes they read to Gloria.
Look carefully at the bookshelf. Every book is front-facing. That’s important, as it draws in the children. Bookstores do the same thing. Children can access these books any time they want to. There is always a wide variety of books displayed; old and new; fact and fiction, math, geography, poetry, humor, art, patriotic, familiar authors, and classics.
What books do you recognize or remember?
- Katy and the Big Snow is more than a classic. It is geography. And, it was the book that Jim Trelease remembered the most as a child.
- No, David is hilarious.
- Madeline and Blueberries For Sal are as popular today as they ever were.
- Anno’s Counting Book is the best math book I have read in 30 years.
- The Three Little Javelinas is the book we used for our play performance.
- Are You My Mother? and Dr. Seuss books are terrific.
- This Land is Your Land stays on the bookshelf because children love to sing the song and look at the book.
Mind you, there are many more wonders on that bookshelf. I hope you noticed. And the good news– the books constantly rotate and change.
“I know that book!” and “I remember that book!” are words I hear from parents, and also visitors. Children are eager to show them their favorites, and parents are eager to read aloud those books. Win-win. Because, if we don’t read aloud to our children, we will never grow readers.
Books are a treasure chest of gold and jewels. Open a book, and the words and pictures open doors to the world. It’s magic.
This week is Children’s Book Week.
Read books aloud with children. Volunteer to read at your local library or school. You never know what adventures will happen. I also read aloud at the library every week, and there’s always “something”, a discovery or terrific conversation. That’s the power and importance of reading.