Ask

• How do I feel about my own reading habits and read-aloud skills? Am I self-conscious?
• What, if anything, keeps me from reading to my child daily?
• What, if anything, keeps me from offering easy access to terrific books at home?

Act

• Keep a read-aloud record. For a week, tally up actual minutes spent reading to and with your child purely for pleasure.

MINUTES SPENT READING ALOUD EACH DAY

Dive in!

Asset-rich books that illustrate “support” and promise a good read:

Everything on a Waffle
by Polly Horvath. Groundwood/Douglas & McIntyre. 2001.

Once Upon a Time
with story and pictures by Niki Daly. Farrar. 2003.

Naomi and Mrs. Lumbago
by Gilles Tibo, illustrated by Louise-Andrée Laliberté, translated by Susan Ouriou.
Tundra Books. 1996, 2001 (English edition).

Something From Nothing
retold and illustrated by Phoebe Gilman. Northwinds.1992.

There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom
by Louis Sachar. Random House.1987.

Waiting for Whales
by Sheryl McFarlane, illustrated by Ron Lightburn. Orca.1991.