Journey On ... | Benefits of Reading Aloud to Your Child

I’m a mother of two adult children, three adult step-children and a grandmother to five precious grandchildren. When my kids were younger I read aloud to them every night as part of our bedtime routine. Sure, our schedules were hectic with sports and other afterschool activities but I made reading aloud every night a priority and here’s why: (1) Research has established a link between listening to books read aloud and school success. Children acquire language by listening to language. Books have a more sophisticated sentence structure and vocabulary than spoken language. So when children listen to books read aloud on a regular basis, their vocabulary increases and they have a giant advantage over a child who hasn’t heard those words. (2) Reading aloud increases a child’s reading comprehension. When children listen to books, they create mental images of the story in their head. Creating mental images is a very important reading comprehension skill that leads to reading success. (3) Do you have a reluctant reader? Reading aloud to children whets their appetite for independent reading and will help develop a passion for reading. Your child’s reading level isn’t as high as his listening level so you can and should be reading books at a much higher reading level (about 2 grades higher). The characters and plot will be more complicated and exciting and will hook your child into the real fun of reading independently. (4) Reading together builds relationships and opens up opportunities to discuss important issues that your child may be facing. When you talk about difficult issues of a character in a book together, it sounds less like a lecture (which we all know goes in one ear and out the other!) and more like a conversation.

So where to begin? Over the remainder of the school year, I’m going to be recommending books that are great read alouds for different age groups. My recommendations today are books that have been turned into movies. Reading a book and then watching the movie is a great way to get the entire family involved. Check out these fantastic book-movie combinations!

Book: The Complete Adventures of Curious George; by Margret Rey; 432 pg.

Movie: Curious George; Rated G

Recommended: Kindergarten and up

Book: Beezus and Ramona; by Beverly Cleary; 183 pg. Family life fiction, humor

Movie: Ramona and Beezus; Rated G

Recommended: Kindergarten and up

Book: Charlotte’s Web; by E.B. White; 184 pg. Animal and farm life fantasy fiction

Movie: Charlotte’s Web; Rated G

Recommended: Kindergarten and up

Book: How to Eat Fried Worms; by Thomas Rockwell; 115 pg.; Humor

Movie: How to Eat Fried Worms; Rated PG

Recommended: 2nd grade and up

Book: The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread; by Kate DiCamillo; 267 pg. Fairy Tale/Fantasy