Reading with Children

Reading and toddlers.?

My son (22 months) used to love to read books with me. Lately, he doesn't seem to be as interested in it. The average book we read has about one sentence per page. I'm wondering if now is the time to move on to more complicated books with more words and more of a story line. Could it be that he needs that and it might keep him more interested in reading? His language skills seem to be above average for his age if that has anything to do with it. Also, could you recommend specific books that your child this age enjoys? Thanks very much.

Public Comments

1. My daughter (30mos) loves to read and has gone through phases where she did not want to read for a while. However, she loves going to the book store (or thrift store) and pick out her own book. She gets so excited about the book she has picked for herself, sometimes she does not put it down for days. What has worked when we read shorter books is talking about the pictures. Also, my daughter loves flap books (her favorite characters such as dora and anything with animals) and touch books. Try ABC and 123 books (my daughter loves the 1,2,3 Elmo book and has for quite some time). Also, the baby leap frog books are nice because the child can interact with the pages and they have different settings for the different ages.
2. my son is 25 months & we read WInnie the Pooh books from this 7 book library set we ordered from an avon catalogue... he also like books that rhyme like Dr. Suess! read him books that challenge his imagination! repititon is great, so read the books he likes over & over!... Also, we like touch & feel books?... u can order them online! baby einstein has a couple that are real good! my son also goes through wierd phases w/ books! where he changes what kind of books he likes me 2 read 2 him & we did go through a phase about 6 months ago where he made it nearly impossible for me 2 read 2 him at all! but it passed. hope this helps!
3. Toddlers go through phases but I would just keep up with trying to read them to him. He is still young so it probably isn't that he needs more advanced ones. You should get the little pad by leap frog its for tots and my daughter absolutely loves it because not only can I read it to her but she can do some interactive stuff with me and without me if she wants too. You can get a pretty big variety of books to go with it. If you don't want to go that route just go anywhere that sells books for kids and pick out anything. It might be he just needs a change of pace from the usual books you read him. Victoria http://www.about-sandiegoca.com/
4. My suggestion to you is to keep reading books, give him a book of his own to look at and read another to him. Chances are he'll listen to the book you are reading while looking at another book. My youngest son now 3 went through this stage. I was afraid that maybe the books were boring him but was told that children need repetition to pick the books they enjoy later on. I found a book that my son really liked at the local library called The Day the Babies Crawled Away. This book is really cute. My problem was getting my son to let it go back to the library. We checked this book out at least once a month for six months. In fact he knew exactly where to find it at the library. This book does have a rhyming scheme and children at this age tend to like rhyming books very well. My son still chooses this book any time we go to the library. I have read this book more than I would like to but my son loves it even now. I found that even when I thought my son was not listening to the books because he was playing on the floor in front of me, that he was in fact listening. Dr. Suess books are also good books to read. I also get books with different childrens poetry in them.. Mother Goose is a favorite. Also changing the tone of your voice to match how the characters are talking seems to grab the attention of little ears. I would try some more advanced books also and see if it motivates him. I try to find books that have character such as the books metioned above. Also the Jamie Lee Curtis books have a great rhyming scheme and they talk about all sorts of things such as self esteem. Reading to your child is the most important thing you can do to help with his language developement.... Good luck and I hope you find these books as enjoyable as my little one has......
5. I agree with the let him pick some books, at 22 months I am sure he has favorites..a favorite animal, cartoon character (Dora, Diego, Barney) My daughter likes flap books and we just started with the leap pad books, when I am done reading she gets to use the pen and play with the book and listen to the sounds made on the pages. Just keep the in sight and I bet you will see him reach for them on his own. Good luck and happy reading.
6. My daughter likes the "Little Critter Books" by Mercer Mayer. She doesn't really care for Dr. Seuss yet, maybe that will come later. (She's three.) She has some foreign language books and prefers German or French but hates Spanish for whatever reason. She loves the Disney Princesses so the books with them in them always hold her interest. Does your son have a favorite cartoon character or movie? I think it also depends on the pictures and how you read the story. Do you involve your child by asking questions about the story? Point things out in the pictures or ask him to? Try using silly voices, singing the words rather than reading, etc.
7. Here is a link to a page that has many other links to books for his age group. http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/boardbooks/ Also, maybe he just needs some variation in the reading of the same book. Maybe make more games out of an old book: Ask him to point to certain things/colors. Use different voices. Make sure he isn't too tired or too crabby to be comfortable settling down for a good read.