When I was a college student, one of my professors gave Jim Trelease's The New Read-Aloud Handbook as assigned reading for my children's literature class. Little did I know that it would become one of the most used books in my home. As a preschool teacher, I found the book invaluable to determine appropriate material for my class and even as a parent, I refer to it often as my child grows.

The Handbook is broken down into 10 different categories. The first half of the book deals with the logistics of reading and fostering a love of reading in your children, and the second half of the book is a treasury of books, grouped by levels of appropriateness. While I enjoy learning theory, I use the second half of the book the most. It is an easy reference while in the library, looking for new books for my child.

Why Read Aloud?
This section explores the questions and misconceptions parents may feel about reading aloud to their children. After all, aren't they supposed to be reading for themselves? The reasons to read aloud to your children of all ages, not just your small children, are many-fold. First, simply, is to entertain and explain to your child. View it as you would having a talk with your child. Secondly, reading aloud actually strengthens your child's listening comprehension skills.

When to Begin Read-Aloud
It is imperative that you start reading aloud to your child as early as possible, for reading is an acquired taste. This chapter explores when to begin and how long to read aloud to your child. Jim Trelease suggests beginning reading when you begin speaking to your child; for most of us, that comes shortly after birth! It is also argued here that reading aloud consistently may enable your child to read unassisted earlier.

The Stages of Read Aloud
This section of the book gives you tips on where to begin. For infants, it is not so important what you choose, just as long as you are reading to them. This section gives you developmental milestones and how to enhance them with books.

The Dos and Don'ts of Read-Aloud
This chapter is all about what you should and shouldn't do when reading aloud to a child. For example, you should read as often as you have time for and try to have at least one set time during each day that you and your child have story time. You should also occasionally read above the child's intellectual level to challenge their young minds. Some of the don'ts include not reading stories that you don't enjoy yourself. You should also never use books as a threat or withholding reading time as a punishment.

Read-Aloud Success Stories
Who among us has not seen the cute children on television touting "Hooked on Phonics worked for me!" and has not been persuaded to get it for their own struggling reader? We all like to know about new products, but we also want to know that they work. In this chapter, Trelease goes into ways his book and in turn, reading aloud, has helped children from the classroom to the living room.

Home and Public Libraries
Here are ideas for building your own home libraries and getting the most out of the public library. Some good ideas that Trelease gives for home libraries include dividing your home inventory into two categories: Expensive and inexpensive. For your expensive books, you may want to consider putting them on a high shelf to avoid sticky fingers from messing up the pages and using only when reading together. All of the other books should be kept on low shelves for easy accessibility. As for the public library, Trelease suggests using it! He states that only 10% of a town's estimated population actually uses the library.

Television
This chapter discusses ways reading can compete with this fierce contender. Trelease claims that since the advent of the television, student's aptitude test scores have steadily fallen. Parents must understand the television is the antithesis of reading. It must be limited, of course, while reading must be promoted.

Sustained Silent Reading: Reading-Aloud's Natural Partner
When I was in elementary school we used the acronym SSR to describe the 10-15 minute period each day to read, uninterrupted. Though it doesn't seem like much, multiply that times 5 days a week. That's a full hour of reading! That's plenty of time for the child to get into the book long enough to hold her interest. This chapter gives you ideas on how to implement your own Sustained Silent Reading time.

How to Use the Treasury
This chapter gives you an explanation of the book's intended use. It provides a number of ways to find just the right book for your child: Titles, Synopses, Author and type of book to name a few. There are many titles that are cross sectioned with books by the same author or with the same subject matter. This book explains how to use each of them.

Treasury of Read-Alouds
While the other parts of this book are invaluable, this is the section with pencil markings and dog-eared pages. This is the meat of the book. It breaks the books down into manageable categories for you to find exactly what you are looking for in your child's reading level. Here are the categories:

· Predictable Books: These picture books repeat words and sentence patterns so that your child can predict what words are coming next and help you read the book aloud. Examples include Are you My Mother? by P.D. Eastman and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

· Wordless Books: These books contain no words and the story is told entirely through pictures. Examples include Frog Goes to Dinner by Mercer Mayer and Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day.

· Reference Resources: These are oversized books relating to areas of interest to children. An example is Do Animals Dream? by Joyce Pope.

· Picture books: These are the classic books from childhood. Each title listed gives a synopsis, age group suggested and other suggested readings. Examples here include Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst and Corduroy by Don Freeman.

· Short Novels: These novels range from most elementary grade levels, from the most basic chapter books, to some that are quite sophisticated. Examples here include Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl and Laura Ingalls Wilder: Growing up in the Little House by Patricia Giff.

· Novels: These books are a little bit longer and more complex. Examples include The Call of the Wild by Jack London and The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks.

· Anthologies: These combine a group of stories for reading silently or aloud. Titles include American Beat by Bob Greene and Eric Carle's Treasury of Classic Stories for Children.

I originally paid $12.99 for my copy of this book.

This book is simply invaluable for the parent or teacher. Make sure that this is one of the first books you get for your own home library.


Recommended: Yes