Alphabet Books. Alphabet Books usually feature the capital and lowercase forms of a letter on each page and one or more pictures of something that begins with the most common sound that the letter represents.
Counting (or number) books. In these books, each page usually presents one number and shows a corresponding number of items (two monkeys, five dinosaurs, and so forth).
Concept Books. These books are designed to teach particular concepts that children need to know in order to succeed in school. Concept books may teach about colors, shapes, sizes (big, little), or opposites (up, down). They may focus on classifying concepts (farm or zoo animals, families around the world, different kinds of trucks, or different places to live).
Nursery Rhymes. These books often contain rhymes and repeated verses, which is why they are easy to remember and recite and why they appeal to children.
Repetitious stories and pattern books. In these predictable books, a word or phrase is repeated throughout the story, forming a pattern. After the first few pages, your children may be able to "read along" because they know the pattern. This ability will let them experience the pleasure of reading.
Traditional literature. Traditional literature includes fairy tales, folktales, fables, myths, and legends from around the world and across the ages of time. Through these beloved stories, children become familiar with many different times, cultures and traditions. Some stories, such as Cinderella, vary slightly from culture to culture, and it is interesting to compare their differences.
Wordless picture books. These books tell stories through pictures, without using words. Wordless picture books give children the opportunity to tell stories themselves as they "read", an activity that most children enjoy. In telling their stories, children develop language skills; they also get a sense of the sequence of events in stories.
This information has been reproduced according to the following authorization:
U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Early Childhood-Head Start Task Force, Teaching Our Youngest, Washington, D.C., 2002
