World Read Aloud Day by Leanne Dyck

 I cared for children in daycare centres as an Early Childhood Educator for over fourteen years. The bond I formed with the children in my care warmed my heart. These bonds were enhanced through my love of books. That's why, when I heard about World Read Aloud Day, I knew I wanted to participate.

image from the LitWorld website

For 13 years, World Read Aloud Day has called attention to the importance of sharing stories by challenging participants to grab a book, find an audience, and read-aloud! The global effort, created by the non-profit LitWorld and sponsored by Scholastic, is celebrated annually in over 173 countries and is all about bringing people together through the shared connection of reading aloud in all our communities. -the Scholastic website

How to read to children 

When we think of reading to infants and young children many questions arise. In this article, I answer three of the most commonly asked questions. 

Short stories about the joys of reading to children...

A Bedtime Story

Storytime

As a dyslexic, it's not easy for me to read aloud. Here's my story...

My Life with Letters part one and part two

And if you would like to hear me read more of my stories...

Readings by Leanne Dyck

How to introduce your child to picture books by Leanne Dyck

"A work in progress"

Rock art by my husband; photo by me.

Let's start at the beginning... 

Why is it important to read to babies?

-helps with language acquisition 
the more opportunities to hear words being spoken, the more likely it is that your child will repeat these words.
-helps increase attention span
but remember the book is there for your child, not visa versa
-helps build a bond between mother and child
-helps instill a love of books

More:
A link to an article I wrote on the importance of reading to infants and toddlers--and the conclusion to this article. 

On the web:  10 Reasons Why You Should Read to Your Kids

Board books are especially designed to appeal to babies.

Pictures are the most important element in board books. [They help to keep the young listener engaged.] There might be one sentence on a page ... sometimes just one word. (Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul p. 7)

The main difference between board and picture books is the number of pages. Picture books, for children two to five years of age, are typically 32 pages long.

More:
An article on the importance of reading to your 2 to 3 year old child.
On the web:  Literacy Skills:  Ages 2 - 3

How do you help your child make the transition from board to picture books?

First, read the picture book the way you would a board book--by focusing on the illustrations. Then try reading some of the text. Is your child engaged? Is the child interested? Continue reading. If at any time the child shows any signs of being uninterested in the text, stop reading and refocus on the illustrations. Remember books are there for the child--not visa, versa. The goal is to keep storytime fun. 

Next post:  (Sunday, April 17th -- around 5 p.m. PST) Do authors influence you? How? Who? I will discuss this topic as I review Margaret Atwood's novel Cat's Eye

Bim sporting his new sweater--hand knit and designed by me.

First time in a long time that I returned to my knitting needles.

But, hey, Bim was cold--so it had to be done, and it was fun. 

Sharing my author journey...

Some people love to sleep. Some authors have a strict no writing in 

Storytime (short story) by Leanne Dyck

How do you make children listen to you read books--you don't. You invite those interested to listen.

(all photos by Leanne Dyck)

Storytime

by Leanne Dyck

Updated June 9, 2020

I was young; I was naive; I was just another practicum student passing through that Day Care Centre.

The staff tried to warn me. "These kids don't like books. They won't sit still."

But I didn't listen...

I walked over to a group of four children who were colouring at a small table. 

"A little mouse went creeping, creeping, creeping." I chanted as I crept two fingers across the table. "A little mouse went creeping across the kitchen floor.

The great, big cat went stomping, stomping, stomping." I hit the table like a drum and the children joined me. "The great, big cat went stomping across the kitchen floor."

"The little mouse ran away." I ran my fingers off the edge of the table and the children laughed. "Would you like to hear a story?"

One of the children said, "Yes." and followed me to the library corner. She was joined by two other children. 

The girl who'd accepted my invitation forced a book into my hands. "This one. Read this one."

I held the book in the air and called. "Storytime."

Most of the children ignored me, but a boy who'd been playing with a car parked it and came to the circle. He pulled a book off the shelf. "Read this book."

"I'll read this one first and then I'll read yours," I told him.

"Sometimes it looked like split milk but...," I began--that brought a few more children to our group.

"I have a bunny," a girl said, loudly.

"No, you don't," another girl said.

"Yes, I do."

Their debate drowned out my reading.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the staff exchange a smile. 

"What do you think this is?" I asked the girl who thought she had a rabbit.

"An airplane," she guessed. 

"No, it's not," a boy said. "It's a bird."

We continued to tell the story together and more and more of the children were drawn into the circle until they all were engaged in storytelling. 

I flipped from one page to another, until... "Sometimes it looked like split milk, but it wasn't split milk. It was a..." 

I waited for the children to call out the answer and I was rewarded with a chorus. 

"Read another one," the children said and I'm still reading.


More...

Toddler Story Time (YouTube video)

Why Story-Time Rocks

And in 2015 I wrote an article about my most recent experience sharing books with a group of children. Here's the link.

Next post (Sunday, April 10th -- published after 5 P.M. PST):  Your preschooler loves board books and you're wondering when and how you should introduce your child to picture books. I was an Early Childhood Educator working with preschoolers in Day Care Centres for over fourteen years. I read tons of picture books to groups of children and I'm delighted to share my tips in my next post.

Sharing my author journey...

Some writers love to do research. 

Sharing Stories with Children by Leanne Dyck

During a writing group meeting, I shared a picture book manuscript. I was delighted to receive most of the feedback. But... But... One comment stopped me in my tracks. 

"Have you shared this story with children?" They asked me.

"Hmm, no," I said.

"Well, you should."

"How? It's a picture book. It needs pictures. And I don't draw," I told them.

They had an answer for that too. "You could clip pictures out of magazines."

Or I could gather pictures from the Internet, I told myself.

I knew collecting pictures for my book wasn't the problem. Interacting with a group of children was. It had been too many years since I'd done that. I'd burnt out of my career as an Early Childhood Educator several years ago--right after my mom died.

I have many happy memories of reading books to children. It has always been one of my favourite activities. I miss it. But fear has kept me away.

What if I no longer know how to interact with children? What if I trip and fall over words because of my dyslexia? What if...
I dwelled on these 'What ifs...' until one (early) morning. That morning I took myself in hand. "Will you continue to be blocked by your fear or will you trust yourself and take a leap?" I asked myself.

I gulped and answered, "I'm going to take a leap."

And so I contacted my local library. "Are you still looking for people to read to the children?" I asked them.

"Ah, no, not really," they told me, "In fact, we just printed the poster."

I read the long list of names. I was disappointed but proud that I'd tried to take a leap. It wasn't me who'd failed to overcome my fear. I'd tried. They just had enough readers. I was about to walk away with my head held high, but they stopped me. "But, we should have a few extra people in case something comes up." They took my contact information.

"But they won't contact me," I told myself. Once again I was caught in a net of disappointment (that I won't be able to read to a group of children) and hope (that I won't have to read to a group of children).

Well, they did contact me. A blend of apprehension and excitement carried me from my home to the library. I waited for the children to arrive. And they did arrive. 

The first thing I did was share that story I'd written. We enjoyed adding sound effects and acting out parts of the story.  Then the children plucked books from the shelves and handed them to me.  The last book they gave me was Up, Up, Up, Down by Robert Munsch (click this link to Robert Munsch's web site) 

In true Munsch style, he wrote the book so the children could quickly become engaged with the reading. We all loved repeating "Up, up, up, up, down." And we enjoyed the illustrator's (Michael Martchenko) silly sense of humour.

In the end, I was so thankful I'd taken that leap. I was delighted to see a group of children so entertained by books. And all those wonderful old feelings I got from reading to children came rushing back. I road those feelings for a few days--such joy.

Over many years of reading books to children, here some of my favourite books (in no particular order--meaning:  if I could list them all first, I would)...

The Monster At the End of This Book by Jon Stone 

This book really brings out my inner actor. 

It Looked Like Split Milk by Charles Green Shaw 

I really like telling (as oppose to reading) It Looked Like Split Milk. My favourite way of telling it is to cut out a variety of shapes, put them in a box and have each child choose one. They reach in without looking at the shapes. Then we all guess at what the shape is.

Anything by Robert Munsch 
Okay, too vague
Here are some; I'm sure there are more

The Paper Bag Princess
Murmel, Murmel, Murmel
Mortimer
Mud Puddle
Love You Forever 

More...
'For the Love of Books' part one and part two
(an article I wrote in the 1990s on how to read to children)

'Why I Write for Children' by Darlene Foster

I have more to say about reading to children and on Monday, October 5th I look forward to sharing an article I wrote on this subject. 

Contest...

The deadline for Room's poetry and fiction contest has been extended to midnight of August 1st. Here's the link for more information.

Next Monday:  How to Live A Dream

Sharing my author journey...

If things are too good to be true then they just might be.

Recently, I was connected through LinkedIn by a literary agent. I 

How-to read to children by Leanne Willetts

For the Love of Books was published in 1992 in the Manitoba Child Care Workers' trade magazine. 

For the Love of Books

by Leanne Willetts (now Dyck) Child Care Worker III

When we think of reading to infants and young children many questions arise. Here I will answer three of the most commonly asked questions.

What, if anything, does the infant gain from this type of experience?

The positive effects of the reading experience are four-fold. To begin with reading is of immense benefit to early language acquisition. The infant is repeatedly exposed to a few words in an interesting and stimulating format providing him/her with a golden opportunity to expand upon a limited vocabulary at a manageable pace. Second, reading is an effective way to strengthen the bond of adult to baby. During those few precious moments, the child has your total attention, nothing exists in the universe except the two of you. Third, the sound of your voice is a wonderful preparation for nap or bed time. Fourth, the fine illustrations found in picture books provide excellent visual stimuli. Illustrators draw from the limited experience of the young child's world. They draw common items such as balls, cats, dogs, faces, which the child no doubt has had experience with. Infants are by nature egocentric and these illustrations have great appeal to them.

I'm no Robert Munsch, how can I even attempt to read to a baby?

Even Robert Munsch had to and still has to, practice. Most babies are a very receptive audience. They are perfectly content to lay there and listen to you. By using Robert Munsch and other storyteller's techniques you can enhance the reading experience. Some of these techniques are:

-Point out similarities between the world of the book and his/her world. Say something like, "Mary has a green ball just like the one in the picture."
-Ask questions and allow time for him/her to respond, whether there is a verbal, non-verbal, or no response. Allowing time for the infant to respond even before such communication is likely will prepare the child to pick up on the cue. Such preparation will make it more likely that an older child will take a more active role in the reading experience. 
-Talk about and draw interest in the illustrations. If the illustration is of an animal point to the animal and comment on its name and the sound it makes.
-Use gestures. When you read the word B-I-G use your body to dramatize the word.
-Vary voice tone: from low to high; loud to soft; slow to fast.
-Use eye contact.
-Use your imagination; vary the text, expand the story, use your creativity--remember nothing is written in stone.
-Use your genuine interest in the reading experience. If you show enthusiasm for what you are reading the baby will pick up on that.

The more you practice the better you will become. However, before everything else, please remember the needs of the young audience should be paramount. The book is there for the enjoyment of the baby. If you sense an infant's attention lagging, stop, and read again later. Make the reading experience as positive as possible.

How soon can I start reading to a baby?

As soon as you begin talking to a baby, you can begin to read to him/her. Research has found that an early positive exposure to the reading experience will help the child slip naturally into the habit of reading.