Comments on: A supplement to a child’s book collection

By: Lisa S.

Lisa S. — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:46:54 +0000

To all:

As a middle school teacher of reading/language arts, I cannot affirm your efforts enough! One of the most prevalent factors of students’ reading ability is their amount of exposure at HOME. When parents read aloud to children in their primary years, the benefits have longevity. I know that my reading ability today is absolutely linked to my mother reading such stories as The Sneeches, Little House in the Big Woods and so on.

Please continue reading to your children.

Also, I love turning the pages of a good book, but my kids absolutely love anything on the computer or i-pod! In my opinion, I don’t care how they are reading, only that they ARE.

Happy reading,

Lisa S.

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:27:25 +0000

Another great (and free!) site for pre- and early- readers is http://www.starfall.com/

By: T-mag

T-mag — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:16:32 +0000

On the page before, it shows the yellow mouse (who played in yellow paint) walking up to a blue puddle.

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:59:35 +0000

This is a great idea, although nothing beats cuddling with your son/daughter and a great book.

By: Steve-O

Steve-O — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:23:43 +0000

yeah… well the puddle is green not blue. This is the most confusing kid’s book I’ve ever seen.

By: Debra

Debra — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:22:37 +0000

Our local library has an institutional membership to a similar service and it’s free for library patrons to use on site or from home.

By: Sammy

Sammy — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:41:16 +0000

Mouse Paint! I read that story to my daughter many times.

Timely, too. We celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday yesterday with The Lorax, and followed it up with Come Back, Amelia Bedelia.

By: Taylor at Household Management 101

Taylor at Household Management 101 — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:15:46 +0000

I love to help my kids read. It is so important, and I will definitely look into this site.

I have to agree with several commenters above though, when they say going to the library is a great free resource. Of course, when traveling I prefer for us to bring our own books, instead of the library, because I do not want to lose someone else’s books.

However you do it though, it is so important to instill the reading habit in our kids, because it makes such a positive difference in their lives. Come check out my blog post on the subject if you’re interested.

http://www.household-managemen.....habit.html

By: MAC

MAC — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:14:00 +0000

I also highly recommend Tumblebooks. We get access through the school library system.

By: Jeannine B.

Jeannine B. — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:57:16 +0000

My kids have access, through their school, to an online reading site called tumblebooks.com. They can access the site at school or at home, using a username and password provided by the school. It is worth looking into what your school might offer that is free to your child. My daughter spends hours listening to and reading books online! Much better than watching Sponge Bob on the t.v.!

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:55:05 +0000

I like Tumblebooks, and I also like http://www.storylineonline.net — it has screen actors guild actors reading the books. It is free, but they ask for donations.

By: momofthree

momofthree — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:30:34 +0000

must be the old fashioned sense in me, but why PAY money to read books online?
I prefer to have the book in hand.
Always would travel, by car, with a basket full of books for the kids to read on vacations (all vacations–tent camping for 8-10 days)
Taught the kids to be careful of books no matter the source (purchased or library loan)

as for the musty smell, again, must be the old fashioned sense, but it’s part of the charm of old books. My kids really like to read some of the books my hubby and I had from our childhoods.

By: Marla

Marla — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:27:50 +0000

We really love this: http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/

The thrill of vintage books without the musty smell!

But, I must say we do keep about ten of the lower level books around – for our just now five year old daughter is just learning to read, and they are great for that purpose. We have friends with smaller children who visit, and it’s always nice to have a few around for them, and because just when I was about to donate some of the simpler ones, like the Maisy books, our daughter discovered the joy of tracing the simple designs and enjoying her new control, attention span and abilities to practice such drawings herself. Sometimes I find that removing things too soon means we lose the joys of rediscovery.

By: Julie (World of Julie)

Julie (World of Julie) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:08:14 +0000

We like Lookybook (http://www.lookybook.com) here, though sometimes you need to get out your reading glasses. But it’s a good way to preview books before getting them from the library or (gasp!) buying them. (Ok, so it takes a lot more than a brief computer perusal to get me to buy a book, but it is a good way to preview, or to read some new books if you’re snowed in and can’t get to the library.)

I second the Tumblebooks recommendation. We access it through the Portland, Maine library website, and I don’t think you need a library card to view them through there (http://portlandlibrary.com).

By: Merideth

Merideth — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:29:14 +0000

You also might want to see if your public library subscribes to Tumblebooks, which also features e-book read alongs as well as animated talking picture books.