The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Corduroy by Don Freeman

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle

Babar by Jean de Brunhoff

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood

The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Mr Men series by Roger Hargreaves

The Jolly Postman by Janet Ahlberg

Animalia by Graeme Base

There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake by Hazel Edwards

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

Possum Magic by Mem Fox

The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen

Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

Midnite: The Story of a Wild Colonial Boy by Randolph Stow

The Cabbage Patch Fibs by Paul Jennings

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton

The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

The Roald Dahl Collection

Goosebumps by R.L. Stine

Unmentionable! and Uncanny! by Paul Jennings

The Babysitters Club by Ann M. Martin

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle

Are you there God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Came Back to Show You I Could Fly by Robin Klein

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Learning to read and write is an important step for children. Literacy skills provide the key to their future, opening the doors to education and employment, as well as the pure enjoyment we can get from reading and writing.

Although toddlers and preschoolers generally aren’t ready to learn to read and write, there are skills they can start building that will help them in the future. But this doesn’t have to mean taking on the role of a teacher - these building blocks can be gathered in your day-to-day family life.

Much research has pointed to understanding the importance of play and family time in learning, and many experts recommend that parents focus on fun during a child’s early years. That’s not to say your child isn’t learning if she’s having fun - quite the opposite, in fact! If your little one is enjoying an activity it’s likely she’s gaining from it educationally and/or developmentally, too.

Little bookworms ... Just spending time looking through a book can help build your child's literacy skills.

It might actually be easier than you think to foster these important skills during your child’s toddler and preschool years. Here are a number of everyday activities you can do to help kids stack the building blocks to their literacy development.

Communication

The Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development highlights the importance of talking, listening and interpreting language in day-to-day home life in your child’s early years.

Literacy should be about fun and play and awareness, not rote learning and repetition

The Raising Children Network adds to this, suggesting that conversation, reading, listening, singing and drawing with your child, in addition to every day activities and outings, can provide endless opportunities for literacy development.

Play!

Early childhood learning consultant and blogger at childhood101.com, Christie Burnett, believes that play is the key to literacy.

“For children who are prior to formal school age, literacy should be about fun and play and awareness, not rote learning and repetition,” she says.

Play ideas for developing writing skills revolve around strengthening and training the muscles in the hands and fingers. Burnett suggests the following activities for toddlers and preschoolers:


creating with plasticine, clay or playdough

hanging out at the playground – climbing play equipment is great for building strong hand muscles

improving coordination by getting crafty with scribbling, drawing, or cutting with scissors

heading out into the garden to dig, or pouring, scooping, pinching and spooning, which all require fine motor control

involving your child in age-appropriate everyday tasks such as pouring drinks, cutting with a child-safe knife or spraying with a spray bottle to dust surfaces

threading beads, completing jigsaw puzzles and building with blocks, which all require precision in fine motor control and hand-eye coordination.

Reading

Top children’s authors and literacy experts, Paul Jennings and Mem Fox, are two of Australia’s fiercest advocates of reading to children. Both have published books on the subject, and their websites provide more information on their beliefs that reading aloud with children every day. They say that getting into the habit of reading to children, starting as soon as possible after birth, encourages a love of reading, an understanding of life and a feeling of contentment and love.

Fox says on her website, “Never ever teach reading, or get tense around books.” Instead, reading aloud should be about dedicated time focused on your child, and finding the joy in reading a fun story they love … even if it’s the thousandth time you’ve read it!

Christie Burnett’s top tips for encouraging a love of reading

1. Read together with interest and enthusiasm throughout the day, every day. Do it as part of your daily routine (a book before bedtime), and at other times, just because. Choose fiction and non-fiction books on topics or themes your child loves.

2. Read together with a purpose. Whether it’s a recipe you’re cooking, a catalogue you’re looking at while making a shopping list, or the instructions for putting together an Ikea cupboard, let your child see that reading is useful.

3. Integrate ‘reading’ into your play. Add takeaway menus or a special’s board to your play café, or an open/closed sign to your fruit & vegie store. Train timetables, road maps, telephone directories, letters to post and magazines in the doctor’s waiting room are all simple ways to playfully ‘read.’

4. Scatter reading material throughout your house, in every room, and visit the library and/or bookshops regularly to make new reading discoveries.

5. Make sure your child sees you regularly reading for pleasure and relaxation, as well as for information purposes. This will help him appreciate the importance of reading in his everyday lives.