Reading to under 5s

It’s become conventional wisdom that if you are a good parent and read to your baby everyday (from conception to the day they go to school) that they will learn to be brilliant readers. I don’t think so. You could just as easily put them off reading for ever.

So, let’s stop listening to the purveyors of children’s books (many of which are awful – the books that is, not the purveyors), stop listening to the experts who claim to know how everyone should bring their children up, and stop listening to the teachers who blame everything on slack parenting, and look at the issue a little closer.

I don’t hate books. I love them... well some of them. But I don’t worship capital-B "Books" as something in themselves. Books can be full of ideas and stories and information and sounds and jokes. Books can also be full of turgid prose, dull ideas, wooden dialogue and moralistic preaching. The wrong books for your child will be like a bitter tonic, supposedly good for them but in reality building an aversion to everything they represent.

So, what are the right books? There’s no magic list because the right books will be different for different people. All I can tell you is what sort of books were right for us, and maybe some of them will be right for you. You might find some treasures that nobody knows about, and you’re welcome to tell us about them.

To decide what are the right books, let's look at some positive things that books could do for your 0to5 year old.

1. Sounds. The sounds of you reading the books will be the first thing that reaches the youngest children. Make it something you enjoy, so there’s a smile in your voice. Repetition, rhyme and rhythm are good and they’ll soon recognise and anticipate. Which raises the question, aren’t nursery rhymes and being surrounded by normal conversation just as good? I say yes - forget the books unless you want to read them for yourself, or you don’t know any nursery rhymes, but remember the importance of the sounds when there are other reasons to read books.
2. Stories. Our whole culture is built on stories, it’s how we make sense of the world. Even people who hate books, like their stories on television, film or stage. Of course, not any old story will do. There's not room here to talk about what makes a good story but most of us know when we read a good, bad or just average story. Not that we’d all reach the same verdict.
3. Ideas. Books give us new ideas – they don’t have to be worthy and there’s no controlling quite where they’ll take you.
4. Information. Don’t know something? We used to look for the answer in a book, now we often look for it on the internet instead. Doesn’t matter, both have their parts to play as they work differently. Information shouldn’t be given like medicine either. No three year old should have to learn facts in the hope that it will help them pass their exams when they are thirteen.
5. Together time. I won’t call it quality time because that’s a dubious term in itself. Reading a book to or with your child means that you are sharing the time together. If you’re having fun, enjoying the story, indulging in some overacting or silly voices, having a laugh together, great. If the child doesn’t like the story, if you’re doing it because you should when you’d really rather be somewhere else, then perhaps it’s not a good activity to share right now.
6. Moral ideals. A minefield this one! I’ve already said that our culture is built on stories. Think of the common stories, fables and parables which mean that we share concepts like prodigal sons, black sheep and good Samaritans. There are a lot of people who think that reading “good” stories will guarantee a certain morality and reading “bad” stories will lead their little darlings astray. When I was young, many decades ago, there were few books and one was a small religious book about the black sheep that strayed and got into trouble. I liked that lively black sheep and hated the bland white sheep who never looked up from their comfortable grass - so I guess that lesson was lost on me. You can share the stories, you can’t control the response. Good stories provide food for thought and discussion, not simple answers to complex questions.

Tips for choosing good books for 0to5

• Well written for reading out loud. Try reading the book; the language should flow and fit the story. A book that gives scope for using voices for each character can add to the fun if you are reading it aloud, and later provide opportunities for "duets".
• Good enough to read more than once. The best books are good enough to read over and over – and if your child finds one they really like, that could mean a lot of times. The very best children’s books can be a delight to rediscover in 30 years time.
• Short and sweet. The story should be short enough to read in one session for very young children. It can be worth having a few books that fit time-spans of 5, 10, 20 minutes etc so you can choose one that fits in with your plans.
• Good pictures. Picture books are good for the pre-readers as it gives them something to look at while you read, and they will soon learn to enjoy looking at the pictures and remembering the words. In really good picture books, the illustrations add to the quality of the words.
• Poetry and rhythm. The best picture books for children are like poetry or music – that’s why you can read them over and over. A dull book just gets duller and duller.

Some favourite books and why

Some of our favourites, the ones where you'd seek out a second copy when the first gets too battered were A Lion in the Meadow, Big Dog, Little Dog and Grug Goes Fishing. We'd love to hear about some of your favourites.

Your say...

Discuss this article or tell us about your favourite books on the 0to5.com.au forum - Favourite Picture Books