While we love that kids attending our literacy-based storytimes are being given the chance to build their literacy skills, this is only one piece of the getting-ready-to-read puzzle. Young children spend a majority of time with their parents and caregivers, who are in the unique position of being their children’s first teachers.
Librarians, therefore, have a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of this position and share with parents what they can do to help their children get ready to read ! We can reach out to parents and caregivers in many ways: through literacy-based storytimes in which parents are active participants, through early literacy workshops, displays and play spaces in the library, and through outreach partnerships with preschools and community agencies.
By now I'm sure you've all heard that Jerry Pinkney's beautiful book The Lion and the Mouse is the recipient of this year's Caldecott Medal. I was personally so taken with this book, that uses only pictures (and a few animal sounds) to retell the Aesop's fable of a Lion who lets a mouse go and how the mouse is able to return the favor. Sharing wordless books, or nearly wordless books (like Jez Alborough's Hug