The Read-Aloud Handbook (6th ed.)

I've seen this book so many times at the library, but had never even bothered to pick it up. But for some reason last Saturday, I checked it out. I had no idea what I brought home that day. Jim Trelease first self-published The Read-Aloud Handbook in 1979. It has stayed in print since then, being updated five times. The Read-Aloud Handbook is a guide for parents, teachers, and anyone interested in the welfare of our children. The book shows so many different ways to get children reading, to install the love of reading in them, and also how to keep them reading. The book even has at the end of it, a book list on great books to read to kids at every different level.

It really opened my eyes. I never thought to include SSR (silent sustained reading) along with reading aloud to my children. This book has showed me what I was doing right with my kids (reading to them, taking them to the library, making sure they had books of their own,) and what I wasn't doing enough of (reading aloud to them.) The book gives you the dos and don'ts of reading aloud to your child. This is a book that I think is mandatory for every person who is in any way involved with children.