Here are some ideas for reading books with your preschool child. Consider time, place, and how. • As to time and place, grab odd moments to give both yourself and your child the pleasure of a reading break. Always keep a couple of books in the car. If you're waiting a few minutes while someone is running an errand, that's plenty of time to read a funny verse or look at a short illustrated book together. • Reading or storytelling are natural activities for calming down at beginnings of afternoon rests or at bed time. • As to what you do when you look at or read a book, encourage participation, discuss what you find in the illustrations; this increases the child's power of observation, as well as his or her vocabulary. • If there is a refrain or repeated phrase, such as the little bear's "Who has been eating my porridge?" you can pause and let your child say the words.
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