Giving the Gift of Reading

I went to a baby shower about a week ago, and I gave my standard baby shower gift, which is The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease and a picture book. I almost always choose Tails by Matthew Van Fleet for the picture book. This is because Tails seems to be a hit with just about every little toddler (and younger)! It's filled with cute animals that have fun tails to play with! One of my nieces loved this book so much that she wore her copy of it out (thanks to my sister, Rebecca, for tipping me off to this book). I highly recommend this book for children ages 0-3 yrs!

But back to the baby shower! I buy The Read Aloud Handbook for people because it is full of fascinating information, and every person should read it (in my opinion), especially if you're a parent or teacher. (Not familiar with the book? Find out more info about it here, and buy it here.) What gift could be better to a new parent than empowering them to read to their child from birth? A reading parent is infinitely more valuable (and often more practical) than most of your typical baby shower gifts. When giving this gift, I like to think of myself as a kind of fairy godmother (think Disney's Sleeping Beauty), but instead of giving the gift of beauty or song, I give the gift of reading... and they all lived happily ever after!


In other news, I started putting up my bulletin boards and handing out flyers for classes today at some of my schools. Literacy Launchpad classes start the second week in September, and I'm getting excited! If you're a parent visiting the blog for the first time, welcome!! Please visit regularly!