Acredolo, Linda; Baby Minds: Brain-Building Games Your Baby will love. Bantam, 2000.
Draws on the latest research in infant brain development to offer techniques parents can use to foster learning, explaining how behaviors that are natural for babies can be built upon to nurture language, memory and creative skills.

Arbuthnot, May Hill; The Arbuthnot Anthology of Children's Literature (5th ed.). William Morrow, 1976.
With this volume you never want for something to read whether a nursery rhyme, poem or story—heavy enough to keep the picnic cloth from flying away, too.

Backes, Laura; Best Books for Kids who Think They Hate to Read: 125 Books That Will Turn Any Child Into a Lifelong Reader. Prima Publishing, 2002.
Reading can become a favorite part of any child's life—even children who think they hate to read. And, with the help of this unique book, it's easy to put your reluctant reader on the path to becoming an enthusiastic reader. Inside are 125 books that are certain to ignite your child's interest in reading. You'll find a variety of titles with real kid appeal—the best of the best for children of all reading levels.

Bauer, Caroline Feller; This Way to Books. H.W. Wilson Company, 1983.
This book is a wonderful resource for teachers planning field trips, librarians developing story time programs and parents who want a reading-related craft or activity for the kids.

Blazer, Susan Mandel; Getting Ready to Read: Creating Readers From Birth Through Six. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1980.
Ideas for creating an atmosphere to activities from finger plays to puppets encourage reading, listening and other important skills.

Blivins, Wiley; Phonemic Awareness Activities for Early Reading Success.International Thomson Publishing, 1999.
Contains easy, playful activities that prepare children for phonics instruction.

Burns, Susan M., ed.; Starting Out Right: A guide to Promoting Children’s Reading Success. National Academy Press, 1999.
This book discusses how best to help children succeed in reading. It includes 55 activities to do with children to help them become successful readers.

Butler, Dorothy; Babies Need Books. Penguin Books Ltd, 1995.(out of print)
This is a book for first-time parents. The author believes that books should play a crucial role in a baby's life and this book, planned as a sort of "how to" manual, devotes a chapter to each year of a child's life until school.

Calkins, Lucy; Raising Lifelong Learners: A Parent’s Guide. Perseus Book Group, 1998.
Shows parents how to nurture their children’s imagination from the time they begin speaking to school age, through a free and creative approach to communication, chores, games, and other domestic activities.

Codell, Esme Raji; How to Get Your Child to Love Reading: For Ravenous and Reluctant Readers Alike. Algonquin Books, 2003.
Here are hundreds of easy and inventive ideas, innovative projects, creative activities, and inspiring suggestions that have been shared, tried, and proven with children from birth through eighth grade. This is an indispensable volume designed to help parents get their kids excited about reading.

Cullinan, Bernice E.; Read to ME: Raising Kids Who Love to Read. Scholastic Inc., 1992.
Dr. Cullinan interviewed real families to put together this helpful book on what families can do to help their children discover the joys of reading. There are chapters on the meaning of language, ideas for getting started and tips on what will interest preschoolers, middle readers, and young adults.

Davidson, Jane; Emergent Literacy and Dramatic Play in Early Education. Delmar Learning, 1995.
Dramatic play can fulfill a crucial role in supporting children’s emerging literacy. This book describes teaching techniques that facilitate language inherent in dramatic play.

Fox, Mem; Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. Harcourt, Inc., 2001.
The why and how of reading to children from birth forward. Mem Fox makes it fun for the whole family. Paperbound.

Hearne, Betsy; Choosing Books for Children: A Commonsense Guide, (3rd ed.) Univ of Illinois Pr, 1999.(out of print)
This book provides sensible advice on not only selecting titles but also on using books to strengthen relations between parent and child.

Herb, Steven and Sara Willoughby-Herb; Using Children’s Books in Preschool Settings (How-To-Do-It Manuals for Schools and Public Libraries No. 14)Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., 1994.
Whether you have a school, classroom, library or home school, these are helpful suggestions for story times, connecting reading with other activities, selecting books and involving families. Paperbound.

Jasmine, Grace; Getting Your Child Ready for School. Teacher Created Materials, 1997.
More than an activity book for parents, this book also provides checklists so parents can determine what story, game, or project is best at any given point in a child’s development.

Kimmel, Margaret Mary and Elizabeth Segal; For Reading Out Loud: A Guide to Sharing Books with Children. Delacorte Press, 1983.
Wondering how to read out loud or what to read? Kimmel and Segal tell how to read effectively and offer 140 suggested titles with annotations.

Larrick, Nancy; A Parent’s Guide to Children’s Reading (5th ed.)Westminster Press, 1982.
The advice about selecting books for children is timeless, but the reader will want to add more recently published titles to her suggestions, too.

Lewis, Valerie V. & Mayes, Walter M; Valerie & Walter’s Best Books for Children: A Lively, Opinionated Guide. Avon, 1998.
Two of America’s leading experts on children’s books present unique, definitive, and entertaining guide to quality children’s reading—a user-friendly analysis of more than 2,000 books for children from birth to age thirteen.

Lipson, Eden Ross, ed.; The New York Times Guide to the Best Books for Children, (3rd ed.) Three Rivers Press, 2000.
In this revised and updated edition, the children’s book editor from the New York Times personally selects and recommends children’s books for every age.

Lynch, Judy; Easy Lessons for Teaching Word Families. Scholastic, 1999.
Hands-on lessons that build phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, reading and writing skills.

Mahoney, Ellen & Wilcox, Leah; Ready, Set, Read: Best Books To Prepare Preschoolers. Rowman & Littlefield, 1991.
The authors take parents from infancy to “almost ready for school” with useful suggestions on creating a learning environment as well as books to read.

McCue, Lois; Learning Letters Through All Five Senses. Gryphon House, 1983.
In order to foster language development skills, a wide range of sensory experiences are provided for each letter in the alphabet.

Nash, Jeannie; Raising a Reader: A Mother’s Tale of Desperation and Delight. St. Martin's Press, 2003.
For parents overwhelmed with the many technical advice books written by specialists and teachers, this anecdotal guide to getting children to pick up a book might be a refreshing change. She reports how she made progress with her children’s literacy and shares insights and practical tips.

National Council of Teachers of English; Raising Readers: A Guide to Sharing Literature With Young Children. Walker & Co, 1984.(out of print)
Not only does the book give excellent suggestions to develop family reading habits, there are many booklists for children from infancy to beginning readers.

Neuman, Susan B. and Dickinson, David K., eds; Handbook of Early Literacy Research. Guilford Press, 2003.
Early literacy development is among the most complex current issues facing children and families. This handbook provides the reader with diverse perspectives and analyses of current early literacy research.

Reif, Sandra F.; Ready to Start School: Nurturing and Guiding Your Child Through Preschool and Kindergarten.
Reif show parents how to stimulate and encourage learning in reading and writing, language and communication, thinking and reasoning, plus promote good social and emotional behaviors and improve gross and fine motor skills. Included area many strategies, learning games, and activities that build letter sound skills, develop emergent and beginning writing skills, help your child become a good listener, and encourage problem-solving.

Schickedanz, Judith; Much More Than the ABC’s: The Early Stages of Reading and Writing. National Association for the Education, 1999.
Provides concrete suggestions, grounded in research, to ensure that children not only learn to read and write but also enjoy the process of doing.

Silberg, Jackie; 125 Brain Games for Babies. MJF Books, 2002.
A collection of activities aimed to develop the brain capacity of babies and toddlers. Contains simple games that promote early brain development. Each game has information on the latest brain research and a discussion on how the activity promotes brainpower.

Silberg, Jackie; 125 Brain Games for Toddlers and Twos. Gryphon House, 2000.
A collection of activities aimed to develop the brain capacity of babies and toddlers. Contains simple games that promote early brain development. Each game has information on the latest brain research and a discussion on how the activity promotes brainpower.

Spewock, Theodosia; Ready to Read. Warren Pub House, 1997.
Use this book to enhance pre-reading skills such as sorting, matching, sequencing, and problem-solving, familiarize your child with alphabet letters, strengthen vocabulary, and teach your child about books.

Trelease, Jim; The Read-Aloud Handbook (5th ed.) Penguin Books, 2001.
With lots of concrete suggestions, like the 3 B’s (books, book basket and bed lamp) of a “reading kit” and a treasury of read-aloud titles, Trelease covers what parents need to know about reading stages, do’s and don’ts, libraries and TV. Paperbound.

Warren, Jean; 1 2 3 Reading and Writing. Warren Pub House, 1992.(out of print)
Filled with opportunities for helping young children develop pre-reading and pre-writing skills.

Updated 01/12/2004