Samantha Cleaver - Read with Me: Engaging Your Young Child in Active Reading

Samantha Cleaver grew up in Chicago, Illinois. She taught special education and worked as an instructional coach before moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, where she led the initial design and startup of Active Reading work for Read Charlotte, a community-wide initiative to double the number of students reading on grade level by third grade in Mecklenburg County. She earned a doctorate in special education with a focus on literacy interventions from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her favorite classic picture book is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, and she is currently reading Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall to her two Active Readers.

Munro Richardson is the executive director of Read Charlotte, a community-wide initiative to double the number of students reading on grade level by third grade in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Richardson earned a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in political science. He and his wife, Teresa, are the parents of three children, all of whom thankfully love books and reading. One of his favorite classic picture books is The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

T his book would not have been possible without the interest, collaboration, and ongoing dedication of many people. First, we would like to thank the parents who committed to do Active Reading with their children and share their experiences and challenges across the Charlotte, North Carolina, community. Our colleagues Ron Fairchild, Jenny Bogoni, and Mike English in the Campaign for Grade Level Reading gave us early encouragement to translate our research findings into workable strategies for families. We would also like to thank the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library for working with us to spread Active Reading to families and organizations, specifically the librarians who provided recommendations and feedback. Were grateful to Charlotte Speech and Hearing for graciously sharing their expertise regarding early language acquisition. Read Charlottes Active Reading Action Learning Team (you know who you are) helped us learn how Active Reading can be infused into the community. A special thank you to Jay Everett and Kristi Thomas at Wells Fargo for your very early support of Active Reading in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. And, finally, thank you to the Read Charlotte board and team who were committed to the vision and potential of this book for our community and others.

I ts impossible to list every book that would be great for Active Reading, but here is a list that you can use to start or grow a childs library. If you find an author or illustrator you love or character that you really like reading about, let that inspire you to find even more titles for Active Reading.

These books are great for young children (age eighteen months to age three) who are expanding their knowledge of individual objects, animals, and items. Read these with a focus on pointing and naming what you see.

Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown shows children a host of animals in the farm while describing what they do in a day in inviting rhyme.

Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is a classic for a reason. In addition to naming objects around the room, young children can also fill in the words as you read.

Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers is a delightful book that encourages you to talk about all the things babies do in a day. You can talk about and find babies that are being carried, eating, walking, falling, and crawling.

The First 100 Words and My Big books by Roger Priddy (First 100 Words, First 100 Animals, Farm Words, My Big Book of Animals, and more) provide bright photo illustrations of objects, animals, and other topics that you can talk about with your child as they learn to label everything from cups to cows.

For preschoolers, books that encourage children to find specific objects are great for teaching the names of common and less common objects. Check out series like the I Spy! books, such as I Spy Letters by Walter Wick and I Spy Animals and I Spy Numbers by Jean Marzolo.

Also, Usborne Books 1,001 Things to Spot series has books with an I Spy format for different topics: animals (by Ruth Broklehurst), bugs (by Emma Halbrough), on the farm (by Gillian Doherty), and more.

Active Reading is about letting your child take the lead. These books are some of our favorites for kids to tell the story after just a few reads.

10 Minutes til Bedtime by Peggy Rathmann tells the story of a boy and his hamster friends at bedtime. The story captures how the passage of time feels at bedtime and gives lots of opportunity to point out what each hamster is doing and describe the narrative even as they count down to bedtime.

Cricket Song by Anne Hunter takes you across the world from one animal to another, showing us how were all connected and providing lots of opportunities to talk about the animals in each picture.

First Snow by Bomi Park is the story of a young girl exploring a snowy night. There are few words but lots to discover.

Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann is another picture book with few words but a lot of engaging illustrations that create a clear narrative for your child to use to tell the story of a bunch of zoo animals trying to sneak into a zookeepers bedroom for the night.

Rosies Hat by Julia Donaldson tells a simple story of what happens after Rosies hat flies off her head. The pictures are detailed yet simple enough for young children to tell the story and find new details each time.

The books by Laura Numeroff (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give a Pig a Pancake) will have your child filling in all the silly things that happen when you invite Mouse and his friends in for a treat.

These books are stories with memorable characters and clear narratives that your child can follow and that you can ask both story questions and open-ended questions about (for example guides for some of the books in this list, see appendix B).

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Stead tells the story of friendship. Ask questions about what Amos and the animals do and why.

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McClosky tells a simple story about Sal and her mother going blueberry picking, until Sal and a baby bear get mixed up on the blueberry hill.

The Corduroy books (Corduroy, A Pocket for Corduroy, and others) by Don Freeman tell the story of the lovable bear in green overalls and his best friend, Lisa.

Rosemary Wells is the author of many books for children, most notably for Active Reading are her Max and Ruby books that tell stories about Max and his big sister, Ruby (Bunny Cakes, Bunny Money, Rubys Beauty Shop, Bunny Party, and others). Theres a lot to talk about in these stories, from how we spend money to how we should treat our siblings.

Flower Garden by Eve Bunting is the story of a girl who is making her mother a birthday surprise. Theres lots of opportunity to retell the story, point and name objects and colors, and connect to this story.

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems tells the story of Trixie who goes to the laundromat with her daddy. Its all fun and games, until Trixie leaves her beloved bunny behind.

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and other books by Virginia Lee Burton (The Little House, Katy and the Big Snow) are books with simple stories but with lots of detailed illustrations and multiple topics to talk about. In