Do you want to know how to help your child with reading? This book will help you do it. If you only turn to just one source to help you in this journey, this is the book that will get you where you want to go.
The Read-Aloud Handbook
The book I’m talking about is The Read-Aloud Handbook.
Written by Jim Trelease, it was first published in 1979 (self-published!).
Penguin Books began publishing The Read-Aloud Handbook in 1982 and they’ve been publishing it ever since. The book is regularly updated and is currently in its 8th edition.
How this Book Will Help You
What type of reader do you have?
A little one. These are babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.
Emerging reader, actively learning to read (pre-K through 2nd grade)
Do you have a young reader who is having challenges with reading? Maybe they’ve been labeled as a delayed reader. They definitely might be a boy in kindergarten or first grade who is receiving reading support at school. If yes, know that there are reasons completely unrelated to your child as to why this happens. And Jim’s book can be a big help.
Maybe you have the type of reader who is plowing their way through books so fast it’s breaking your bank account.
Or you have a child with disabilities? A child who is identified as gifted? A child who would prefer to do anything OTHER than read, or a child who would prefer to never do anything EXCEPT read books?
Whoever your reader is … this book will help you help them find a love of reading.
Why is a love of reading so important?
Because no matter who a child is or what they like in life, if they love reading … if they find some corner of the written word that speaks to them … then they will know how to find the answers to anything that interests them.
How Jim Trelease’s Book Helps
So how does this book by Jim Trelease help and do so in such an effective manner?
For starters he will answer all those questions that nag in your mind. Questions like:
- Is reading still important in the video age?
- Is something so simple as reading to a child really so effective?
- What do the best readers have in common?
- How early should I start reading to my child? (I’ll give you a hint – at birth – or even before)
- Is there something I could buy that would help my child read better?
Mr. Trelease answers these questions and many more. He shares real-world story after story of how books, lots of them, and reading aloud have made all the difference for so many children who were at risk academically and in many other ways.
He then teaches you exactly what to do and how to do it.
And he’s very brief in his explanations. Which is great because many parents don’t have much time to read. If that sounds familiar I promise you he wrote this book for you. It’s grouped into lots of short sections. You can take in a section – a paragraph or maybe a page – at a time.
Finally, the Lists
One of the most common questions that grown-ups ask me is: “how do I know which books are good to read to kids”?
That question is answered in this book.
The second half of the book is an extensive list of the books he recommends you read aloud.
How good are the lists? It’s 2020 when I’m writing this article for you and this book has been in constant publication since 1979. 41 years of the experiences of grown-ups reading to kids has gone into the development of the lists of recommended books. I don’t think you’ll go wrong starting with the books on these lists. If anything you’ll discover a genre of reading that you, as a grown-up, will love, all the while helping the kids in your life become lifelong readers.
Buy the Book
Get your very own copy of The Read-Aloud Handbook at Bookshop.
By purchasing your book from Bookshop you support independent bookstores and my work on this blog. You can even select the independent bookstore you prefer to benefit from your purchase!
Free Resources
While Mr. Trelease passed away in 2022, his website continued to be available for a time and it included a number of resources you could access at no cost.
As of this update (December 12, 2024) it appears that the website has been hacked. I’m linking here to a view of the website on the Web Archive. While the archive captures are not complete, you can still find helpful resources like book excerpts, handouts, and additional thoughts from Jim on raising readers.
Me and this Book
I have a bit of a funny history with this book. When I got my degree in Elementary Education this book was required reading for our teaching of reading courses.
And then I forgot all about it. I went on to work in other fields (not elementary education) and I wasn’t teaching reading.
But all along I continued to LOVE children’s literature. My kid lit books were some of my most treasured possessions. They carefully moved with me all over the country, through 10+ different apartments and homes, to their current residence in my home library.
And when I had my son I of course wanted him to have books to read. As many as possible. We inhaled books. I found books everywhere possible. Because I’d never stopped reading kids books, I found that I had more than 20 years experience reading and reviewing all types of children’s books, including the many award winners.
The more we read, the more I studied. I started BeehiveBooksandArt.com. I became an independent book seller for Barefoot Books.
Then, one fall, I took over my son’s school’s Scholastic Book Fair. Wow, what a fun part of the children’s book world! My amazing rep told me about all things Scholastic Book Fairs, including the Warehouse Sale. These unbelievable events happen twice a year and are a means for Scholastic to move out old inventory, creating space for the new. It’s a perfect #bebookrich world for a person like me.
At my very first Scholastic Book Fair Warehouse Sale I happened upon The Read-Aloud Handbook Sixth Edition. Some small voice way far back in the back of my memory said “I think I remember this.” Into my cart it went.
It wasn’t until a few weeks later that I cracked it open and found myself lost not just in author Jim Trelease’s amazing recommendations, but lost in my own memories as well. The summer after my junior year in college I had completed some advanced independent study about teaching reading with the director of my department. It was one of my most favorite things that I did at university. This book (a previous edition) was a cornerstone of that project.
I wish I still had the copy I read in college. But in any case I now have my Sixth Edition copy. I’ve owned it for 6 months now. Many pages are folded down, and quite a lot of it is underlined.
For my own experiences with kid lit, and for the work I do to promote the amazing world of children’s books and all that they hold and can do for your children … THIS BOOK is the one I want you as a grown-up to have – a copy of it for your very own – to refer to and spur your own adventures with the kids in your life as you explore the magic found in books.
P.S. The Eighth Edition is now available. I bought a copy the day I first wrote post in March 2020 for you!
Be Book Rich,
Sarah
Publication History:
- First published March 29, 2020
- Updated December 12, 2024
