As regular participants of the Scholastic Literacy Enrichment Program, we highly recommend many of the book selections provided in the catalogs and book fairs.
To help you narrow your choice of books so you can make the best selections for your child, Lead Primary teachers provide a few guidelines to consider.
Criteria for Selecting High Quality Preschool Books:
- Non-Fiction Books containing realistic photos and 1-3 sentences per page.
- Fiction Books illustrating people, places, and things (this does not include characters you see on cartoons and animated movies)
- Books that introduce the child to phonetic sounds of the alphabet and the numbers from 1-20 with realistic illustrations. (Example: the letter “a” with a picture of a real apple, and the number “2” with pictures of two real cars.)
- Non-Fiction Books related to science: animals, plants, earth, sky, sea, etc.
- Non-Fiction Books related to real superheros, such as firefighters, servicemen, doctors, teachers, etc.
- Non-Fiction books related to geographical cultures and human needs: housing, clothing, food, and transportation.
- Non-Fiction books related character education (teaching manners and social skills like sharing).
- Fiction books containing rhythm and rhyme with realistic illustrations (not animated cartoon characters).
Criteria to Consider when Reading with Children:
Reading for happiness must be our direct motivation, not the academic benefits that result.
