When reading aloud to your child, keep the emphasis on pleasure.  If story times together are happy, cozy and interactive, your child will be gaining a positive attitude about books and reading.  This will translate into greater motivation to learn to read "when the going gets tough" (National Research Council, 1998).  One of the most important things you can teach your child is that reading is a source of enjoyment.

Children have fun when they are able to join in on the storytelling.  They can roar with the wild things, row, row, row their boats or recite the text right along with you.  Books with repetitive text are ideal for this last technique.  After hearing the same words or phrases several times, encourage your child to say the words right along with you.  This really gets them engaged.  A preschool favorite repetitive book is Let's play in the forest while the wolf is not around by Claudia Rueda.  The repetitive text is actually an old folk song and child's game.  The music score is in the back, or just make up your own tune!

"When books come into one's life in the context of human warmth, nurturance, and relevance to one's own interests and needs, they maintain this quality forever."(Quote by Jeree Pawl in "A Book is a Child's Companion")