Reading Non Illustrated Books To Your Children

We love reading to children’s and as we know everybody feel the same. We’re all working towards the same goal. Raising Children Who Love to Read. Yesterday, I started reading out loud my sons’ first non-illustrated novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I was pleasantly surprised when they sat through an entire chapter, after all, they are only 5 and 2. Reading a non-illustrated book out loud to your children can increase imagination skills, attention span and vocabulary.

Here are a few tips to make a non-illustrated book just as exciting as an illustrated one:

Read in a different voice for each of the characters.
Adjust your tone of voice to create excitement. Suddenly read louder or softer to create emphasis.
Stop when you get to a word your child might not know and ask, “Do you know what mumbled means?” Use this time to increase their vocabulary.
Pause every once in a while and describe scenery or character together. Say, “What do you think that house looked like? Was it pretty or ugly, old or new, tall or short.” Help them learn how to envision the book in their imagination.
Pause occasionally to recap or discuss. Ask “What just happened to the little boy?” Don’t be discouraged when they say, “I don’t know.” It’s the same theory as when they can’t recall what they did all day at school. They’re still developing the ability to recall memories and describe them. This will help them develop that skill.
Always recap before you start a new reading time. Set the scene for what is to come.

Once a year, I have the opportunity to celebrate reading in a special way. I attend the SPC Geoffrey G. Johnson Memorial Book Drive which celebrates the life of a young soldier who loved to read to his children. Before he was deployed, his mother recorded hours of him reading bedtime stories to his children. Every year, on the anniversary of his death, his friends and family members gather together at his childhood elementary school and donate new books to the library.