Books With No Words

The "Carl" books are some of my very favorite children's books. However, they present a challenge for many parents and teachers because the "Carl" books are virtually wordless books. The most effective way to utilize books such as these is to sit with your child and look at each page very carefully. Then ask your child, "What is happening on this page?" Point to each element on the page and say something like, "This is Carl. What is Carl doing?" "Do you see the mother in this story? What is she doing?" "Point to the baby. What is the baby doing?" And so on. Books such as these are authored for the purpose of building a child's vocabulary and enriching their imaginations. However, children need an adult guide for many reading episodes before they are ready to "talk to themselves" about the book as they leaf through it.

Not only are the "Carl" books great vocabulary builders, the illustrations are beautiful. In addition, these books are very thick cardboard books that feel really nice to the touch. What follows is a synopsis of Carl Goes Shopping by Alexandra Day (no relation).

Carl, everyone's favorite rottweiler, is back in an all-new adventure. This time Mom asks him to watch the baby in a department store. The minute she's out of sight, Carl and the baby's adventure begins. Should they help the animals escape from the pet department? But, A no! There's Mom heading back toward the baby's carriage. It's up to Carl to return the baby in time.

Saturday's Book Club For The Kids

Llama, Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney will become your child's favorite story in a very short while. It is a story about a little llama who wants his mama at bedtime. Sound familiar? Not only does this wonderful story have the repetitive language that is so important for a young child, it also contains new words such as llama, groan, and fret, that will expand your child's vocabulary.

I recommend this book for parents and teachers of young children up to the age of six. It is fun, has great rhymes, is wonderfully predictable, and is the perfect length for bedtime at home or story time in the classroom.

Sunday's Book Club For Mom and Dad

"The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success is reading aloud to children." That quotation is from Becoming a Nation of Readers, a national report by the Commission on Reading. However, even knowing its importance, many parents, grandparents, teachers, principals, and other educators need guidance as to the "why," "how," and "what" of reading aloud to a child.

The book I am recommending for the first of which will be many Sunday Book Clubs for Moms and Dads, is The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. This book, in its sixth printing, not only teaches the "why", "how", and "what", of reading aloud to a child, it also contains lists of appropriate children's books for each phase of your child's life. As a parent, I found this book invaluable; as a classroom teacher, I found it to be a resource I consulted almost daily.

Reading aloud to your child builds the foundation of connecting language to the written word. You can begin with something as simple as one of the Good Dog, Carl books that have no words. A friend of mine once asked me, "What do I do with this book? It has no words?" Well, you can use books such as these to talk about the pictures, to make up your own story or to have your child look at the pictures and make up a story of his or her own. You will find that with repeated readings, your child will want the story to be the same time after time......predictable and familiar.

Check out The Read-Aloud Handbook from your local library. Take a look and decide for yourself. I think it's a book you will want to have for your very own.

Saturday's Book Club For The Kids

It is never too early to begin reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin and Eric Carle. It is a wonderfully repetitive book with delightful illustrations that will enchant your child for many, many readings. Because of the repetitive nature of this book, your child will begin reading along with you long before he or she actually learns to read words alone. If you only have one children's book in your collection, this should be it.