The world is full of solutions promising to help you help your child with their reading. There are apps you can download, devices you can buy, programs at local libraries, and a plethora of websites that say they have the answer.
And truth be told many of these options may be helpful. But many of them come with a cost and many of them recommend more time then it actually takes to make a difference in your child’s reading skill.
Time and time again I have turned to just one book for the best advice on raising readers. This book never fails me. It’s written in a simple style that is easy to read and understand, and it is full of real-world tips about how you can raise your young readers affordably.
There are several other solutions I also really like, but if you could only turn to just one source to help you on this journey, this book – The Read-Aloud Handbook, is the one that I know will get you where you want to go.
The Read-Aloud Handbook
The book I’m talking about is called The Read-Aloud Handbook.
It was written by a man named Jim Trelease and first published in 1979.
Mr. Trelease initially self-published his book (at a time when self-publishing was not so common or easy). Then, in 1982, the large publishing company Penguin Books began to publish The Read-Aloud Handbook – 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?
Maybe you have a little one – a baby, toddler, or a preschooler.
Or perhaps your child is an emerging reader – a young person who is actively learning to read. These children are typically in pre-kindergarten to second grade, but they could also be younger or older than that age range.
Do you have a young reader who is having challenges with reading? Maybe they’ve been labeled as a delayed reader. If yes then there is a good chance your little “delayed reader” is a boy in kindergarten or first grade who is receiving reading support at school. If that’s the case it can be helpful to know that there are reasons for this situation that are completely unrelated to your child. And know that The Read-Aloud Handbook can be a big help to you and your child.
Maybe you have the type of reader who is plowing their way through books so fast it’s breaking your bank account.
Or maybe you have a child with disabilities. Or a child who is identified as gifted. Or 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, The Read-Aloud Handbook will help you help your child 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 Families
So how does this book by Jim Trelease help families and children?
And how does it do so in such an effective manner?
Answers to Common Questions:
Trelease answers the common questions that parents often ask themselves:
- Is reading still important in the age of video?
- Can me reading aloud to my child really be so effective? That seems too simple.
- How early should I start reading to my child?
- Isn’t being a good reader a talent you are born with?
- What can I buy that will help my child read better?
- I was not a good reader and I’m still not a reader, so why should I be trying to help my kids with reading? Isn’t it better to leave it to the teachers at school?
Mr. Trelease answers these questions and many more.
Real-World Stories of How Reading Aloud Helped Children:
The book shares many real-world stories of how reading aloud made all the difference for so many children who were at risk academically.
Mr. Trelease worked with schools to conduct research on reading. His initial recommendations were based on real classroom experienced, then tested by teachers he worked with directly as well as teachers who read his book, tried his methods, and shared their results with him.
Simple Instructions and Easy-to-Read Style:
In the book he will teach you, with simple instructions and how-to’s, exactly how to read books to your children.
Something I very much appreciate about Trelease’s writing style is that he’s very brief in his explanations. This approach is great because many parents don’t have much time to read long, lengthy texts. The book is grouped into lots of short sections. You can read just one section – a paragraph or maybe a page – at a time.
Lists of Books Recommended By Trelease
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 also answered for you in The Read-Aloud Handbook.
You will find that the first half of the book covers things like:
- why reading aloud helps kids so much with their reading
- tips for parents on how to fit read-aloud time into busy lives
- ways to find books affordably
The second half of the book will help you choose books you can be fairly confident you and your kids will enjoy. That section of the book is composed of an extensive list of the books the author Jim Trelease recommends you read aloud. Trelease worked with many teachers and parents, including conducting research, and this means the books he recommends are truly enjoyable and high-quality read-aloud selections.
How good are his lists? It’s 2025 when I’m writing this article for you and his book has been in constant publication since 1979. 46 years of the experiences of grown-ups reading to kids has gone into the development of the booklists included in this book.
You won’t go wrong if you start your read-aloud adventure with the books on Trelease’s lists. Plus, it is my hope that you will discover a genre of reading (children’s literature) that you, as a grown-up, will also love, all the while helping the kids in your life become lifelong readers.
Buy Your Very-Own-Copy of This Book
I recommend you have a copy of The Read-Aloud Handbook in your home library so you can easily reference it when you need it.
Here are links so you can buy your very-own-copy of The Read-Aloud Handbook: Eighth Edition (most current edition as of the date of this article):
- Buy from Bookshop.org using this link. Your purchase from Bookshop supports independent bookstores. You can even select the independent bookstore you prefer to benefit from your purchase.
- Buy from Amazon using this link.
Learn More About Jim Trelease and Get Additional Resources
When 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.
Eventually his website became unavailable which is unfortunate. Websites cost money and sometimes surviving family don’t want to continue the maintenance that a website requires.
There is good news however; which is that you can use the Web Archive to view his website.
This link will let you view the Jim Trelease website on the Web Archive. Please note that this archive capture is not 100% complete and some links may not work. I checked multiple captures and felt this one was the best and on it you will find many helpful resources such as book excerpts, handouts, and additional thoughts from Jim on raising readers.
The Wikipedia page for Jim Trelease is also an interesting read.
My Story With This Book
I feel like my history with this book has been a life-long journey. When I got my degree in Elementary Education in 1987 to 1991 this book was required reading for our courses that covered how to teach reading in the classroom.
After college I went to work in a different industry (hotels and convention planning rather than elementary education). I forgot all about this book.
As I continued in my hotel and convention planning work, I also continued in my reading and love of children’s literature. The books I read and bought were children’s books. Mostly middle grade chapter novels and also books with superb illustrations like those that win the Caldecott Award. My books from the children’s literature genre are among my most treasured possessions. I carefully moved them with me through 10+ different apartments and homes, to their current residence in my home library.
When I gave birth to my son it was very natural that I wanted him to have books to read. He loved books as much as I did. We found ourselves inhaling books. I went everywhere in my search to find books for him. Bookstores of course and also book sales, consignment and thrift stores, yard sales, libraries, and Amazon.
What I found during this search was that because I’d never stopped reading kids books, I had accumulated more than 20 years experience as an adult in the reading and reviewing of all types of children’s books, including the many award winners.
The more books we read with our son, the more I studied the world of children’s literature and what is known about how kids learn to read. I started my Instagram account Beehive Books and Art in 2017. Then I started a website with the same name – BeehiveBooksAndArt.com in 2018. For four years I was an independent book seller for Barefoot Books (2018 to 2022).
One year I took over the organization of the Scholastic Book Fair for my son’s school. It was in the fall of 2019 and my Scholastic rep helped me a lot with setting up the fair. She also told me about a thing Scholastic did back then called the Warehouse Sale. These events happened twice a year and were used by Scholastic to move out their old inventory, so they could create space for new books.
I went to my first (and to this date last) Scholastic Book Fair Warehouse Sale. It was a perfect #bebookrich place for a person like me.
And it was there that I happened upon a copy of the sixth edition of The Read-Aloud Handbook. A small voice from far back in my memory said “I think I remember this.” Into my shopping cart the book went.
It was a few weeks later that I opened the book 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 advanced independent study about teaching reading with the director of the university’s education department. It was one of my most favorite things that I did while at college. A previous edition of The Read-Aloud Handbook was a cornerstone of that project.
I wish I still had my copy of the book from when I was in college. I must have given it away at some point. I am proud to say that I have my Sixth Edition copy, the one I bought at the Scholastic Warehouse Sale. Many pages are folded down, and quite a lot of it is underlined. Along the way I’ve also acquired copies of the Fourth (signed!), Seventh, and Eighth editions.
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 these books can do for your children … THIS BOOK – The Read-Aloud Handbook – 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.
Be Book Rich,
Sarah
Publication History:
- This article was first published on March 29, 2020.
- I updated the article December 12, 2024 with minor text changes and fixed links.
- I updated the article again on September 8, 2025, this time with significant revisions, a new title, more photos, and improvements to the text for clarity. This date is the first time this article is published on the Beehive Books and Art Substack.
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