November 15, 2023
5 Recommended English Books for Preschoolers
Do you know why it’s encouraged to read to your child? It’s because it’s one of the most effective ways to practise and improve their English language skills. Your child’s exposure to books helps them understand the language and nourish their imagination, which helps expand their world.
If you’re still not sure what benefits your little one can get from you reading to them, you’re on the right page! We’ll talk about why reading to your kids is important, introduce some classic books to read to your preschooler, and more.
Why read to your kids?
1. Improve literacy skills
When you read to your kids, it helps develop critical language and enunciation skills. When they can learn to read on their own, they’ll be able to read more words and understand the context of the book better as a result.
2. Extends vocabulary
Reading to your child exposes them to new words. In fact, a 2019 study estimated that kids whose parents read to them regularly in the 5 years before kindergarten are exposed to 1.4M more words than children who haven’t been read to!
3. Enhances creativity and imagination
When you read to kids, you help them picture the characters of the book and visualise the story settings. This feeds their creativity, which is a useful skill for developing ideas and innovation.
4. Improves concentration
Regular and consistent reading can help to improve your child’s concentration abilities as well. It’ll also help them to learn to sit still and concentrate for long periods of time – a good practice for their schooling days!
5. Develops empathy
When we read to our children, they take on the perspective of the characters. This results in developing empathy as they understand other people’s feelings and emotions.
6. Gain a deeper understanding of the world
Through books, your child can be exposed to various ideas, beliefs, attitudes, places, and real-world situations which can enable them to become open-minded.
7. Parent-child bonding
Most importantly, reading to your child is an excellent activity that fosters parent-child bonding. It’s a nice way to spend time together and slow down at the end of a hectic day!
5 Classic Books to Read to Your Child
1. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Published in 1941, this book remains a classic up to this day. Set in Boston, Mr and Mrs Mallard fly all around to look for the perfect place to hatch their ducklings and live. The parents teach them survival skills, including moving them from one place to another as they grow old.Central theme: FamilyRecommended age range: 3-7 years old
2. Are You My Mother? By Eastman P.D.
This book, edited by Dr Seuss, is about a baby bird. His mother leaves her egg alone and flies off to find food, thinking her egg will stay in her nest where she left it. The baby bird hatches and immediately hurries off to find his mother. However, not knowing what she looks like makes it a challenge.Theme: Sense of belongingRecommended age range: 3-7 years old
3. Corduroy by Don Freeman
This classic book for preschoolers follows a story about a teddy bear in the department store waiting for someone to take him home. A little girl named Lisa wants to buy him. However, her mother pointed out that his overalls are missing one of the buttons.With its bold and bright illustrations, as well as appealing characters and an easily understandable and relatable plot, it’s one that’ll keep your child hooked.Central themes: Friendship, kindness, sense of belonging, hopeRecommended age range: 3-5 years old
4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
This popular children’s book follows a caterpillar’s development. This English book is short and colourful with lots of repetition, making it perfect for preschoolers. It also teaches basic concepts such as counting and the days of the week.Central theme: Benefits of eating healthy foodsRecommended age range: 2-7 years old
5.Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
This book is a classic children’s bedtime story about a little rabbit saying goodnight to the items in his room before going to bed.This story includes rhyming words, colours, and reading comprehension, making it a perfect reading book for your preschooler.Central theme: Sense of security before falling asleepRecommended age range: 2-5 years old
Some Tips to Have Effective Reading Sessions
Make it part of their routine
Try to read to your child every day (or night!). Incorporate this into their daily routine as much as possible until it becomes a normal part of their day, much like taking a shower.
Encourage variation
By having a variety of books, you open your child’s eyes to a range of cultures and characters and allow their creativity and imagination to thrive. Plus, it’ll also make reading time more interesting both for you and your child!
Have patience
Read slowly. You can even point out the words as you’re reading, and take the time to explain to them whenever they don’t understand something.
Continue the discussion
After putting down the book, you can make it an engaging session by asking questions about the book. This way, you engage their critical thinking skills and encourage conversation and communication, which are key skills for success both in school and life.
Cultivate a lifelong love of reading with My Little Campus
No matter what book you choose, it’s important that you use books as a tool for your preschooler to learn and understand the English language better, as well as expand his/her perspectives. There’s so much that little ones can learn from literature!
That’s one of the reasons we emphasise reading at My Little Campus. That said, we use many other tools and activities to ensure children’s language skills and more can grow when they’re in our care!
My Little Campus offers everything from enrichment experiences to comprehensive programmes on subjects such as English, Mathematics, and even Mandarin. In this way, we help children achieve their true potential while setting them up for success. Visit our website to learn more!
