CHARACTERISTICS |
IMPLICATIONS |
EXAMPLES |
| Rapid Development of senses. Responds to sound of human voice,especially rhythmic patterns. Vision stimulated by areas of color and sharp contrast;increasingly able to see detail. | Enjoys rhymes,songs and lullabies. Likes simple, bright illustrations. Looks for familiar objects. | My Very First Mother Goose(Opie)
A Lot of Otters(Berger) Time for Bed (M. Fox) And if the Moon Could Talk(Banks) Sleepytime Rhyme(Charlip) |
| Uses all senses to explore the world immediately at hand;learns through activity and participation. | Gets maximum use from sturdy books with washable pages. Needs to particpate by touching, pointing,peeking, moving. | Baby Dance (A. Taylor)
Where's Spot?(Hill) Pat the Bunny (Kunhardt) What's on My Head? (Miller) |
| Very limited attention span;averts eyes or turns away when bored. | Needs books that can be shared a few pages at a time or in a brief sitting; many short story times are better than one long one. | Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash (Weeks)
Max's Ride (Wells) Dear Zoo (Campbell) 1,2,3 (Hoban) |
| Building foundations of language;plays with sounds, learns basic vocabulary along with concepts,begins to learn implicit "rules" that govern speech and conversation. | Needs to hear many rhymes and simple stories. Needs encouragement to use language in labeling pictures and in sharing dialogue with adults as they read aloud. | I Swapped My Dog (Ziefert)
Little Clam (Reiser) Cow Moo Me (Losordo) The Baby's Word Book (S. Williams) |
| Building basic trust in human relationships. | Needs love and affection from caregivers, in stories as well as in life. Thrives on dependable routines and rituals such as bedtime stories. | Goodnight Moon(M.W. Brown)
You Are My perfect Baby(Thomas) Tom and Pippo's Day (Oxenbury) Asleep, Asleep (Ginsburg) |
| Limited mobility and experience;interests centered in self and familiar. | Needs books that reflect self and people and activites in the immediate environment. | Baby High, Baby Low(Blackstone)
The Cupboard(Burningham) How Many? (MacKinnon) When Will Sarah Come? (Howard) |
| Learning autonomy in basic self-help skills. | Enjoys stories of typical toddler accomplishments such as feeding self or getting dressed. | On My Own(Ford)
Daisy and the Egg(Simmons) I Can (Oxenbury) Going to the Potty (F. Rogers) |
CHARACTERISTICS |
IMPLICATIONS |
EXAMPLES |
| Rapid development of language | Interest in words,enjoyment of rhymes,nonsense, and repetitiion and cumulative tales. Emjoys retelling simple folktale and "reading" stories from books without words | Talking Like the Rain(Kennedy)
What in the World? (Merriam) Millions of Cats(Gag) The Three Bears(Rockwell) Magpie Magic (Wilson) |
| Very active;short attention span | Requires books that can be completed in one sitting. Enjoys participation such as naming, pointing, singing, and indentifying hidden pictures. Should have a chance to hear stories several times a day. | The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Carle)
Each Peach Pear Plum (Ahlberg) Wheels on the Bus(Raffi) Mama Cat has Three Kittens(D. Fleming) Hush Little Baby ( Frazee) Trashy Town (Zimmerman) |
| Child is center of own world. Interest, behavior and thinking are egocentric | Likes characters that are easy to identify with. Normally sees only one point of view. | Bunny Cakes(Wells)
Fix-It (McPhail) A Baby Sister for Frances (R. Hoban) No David! (Shannon) |
| Curious about own world. | Enjoys stories about everyday experiences,pets, playthings, home,people in the immediate environment. | The Snowy Day (Keats)
What Baby Wants (Root) Feast for Ten (Falwell) Cowboy Baby (Heap) |
| Beginning interest in how things work and the wider world. | Books feed curiousity and introduce new topics | My Visit to the Dinosaurs(Aliki)
What is a Scientist(Lehn) Bashi, Elephant Baby(Radcliffe) Mom and Me (Ford) |
| Building concepts through many first hand experiences | Books extend and reinforce child's developing concepts | Eating the Elephant(Ehlert)
Freight Train(Crews) Let's Count (T.Hoban) Trucks Trucks Trucks (Sis) |
| Has little sense of time. Time is "before now", "Now" and "Not yet" | Books can helpt children begin to understand the sequence of time. | Telling Time with Mama Cat (Harper)
A Year of Beasts (Wolff) The Little House(Burton) When You Were a Baby (Jonas) Clocks and More Clocks( Hutchins) |
| Learns through imaginative play;make -believe world of talking animals and magic seems very real. | Enjoys stories that involve imaginative play. Likes personification of toys and animals. | 10 Minutes Till Bedtime(Rathmann)
May I Bring a Friend? (DeRegniers) We're Going on a Bear Hunt(Rosen) Corduroy (Freeman) Bark, George (Feiffer) |
| Seeks warmth and security in relationships with family and others. | Like to hear stories that provide reassurance. Bedtime stories and other rread-aloud rhymes provide positive literature experiences. | The Runaway Bunny (M.W. Brown)
How do Dinosaurs Say Good-Night (Yolen) Like Likes Like(Raschka) Ten, Nine, Eight(Bang) Edward, Unready for School(Wells) The Grannyman( Schachner) |
| Makes absolute judgements about right and wrong | Expects bad behavir to be punished and good behavior to be rewarded. Requires poetic justice and happy endings. | The Three Billy Goats Gruff(Asbjornsen and Moe)
The Little Red Hen(Barton) The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Potter) The Gingerbread Man (Aylesworth) |