We all know reading is so important for little ones! Boosting imagination, emotional development, critical thinking, and especially the encouragement of language development! Phonics specifically are a great tool to help children understand how written words are connected to spoken language. Below we have some incredible phonics-friendly titles for your young readers! While this isn’t a replacement for a phonics-specific program, these are fun, engaging titles that are sure to help your little one in their reading journey.
The first day of school! Filled with excitement and new beginnings, a lot of kids get nervous for this big day! Especially when it comes to facing the dreaded… big kids. In this story we see our small hero put on a brave face as he begins school, but when he looks around there are big kids everywhere. The familiar fear that washes over almost every young student when they see the upperclassman in the hallways. Lucky for this little guy it’s buddy day at school! He is paired up with a seemingly intimidating big kid… he soon learns that these big kids aren’t so scary, in fact, they might be the friends he needs!
This marvelous picture book made in part with The Sloth Conservation Foundation in Costa Rica, follows the slowest mammal on her journey through the rainforest. Though sloth moves slowly, she doesn’t seem to mind! Her speed doesn’t stop her from finding the tastiest leaves in the rainforest. This story is an incredible reminder not to rush and to take things at your own pace for both your young reader and you.
An introduction to mindfulness and keeping your cool, this story teaches your young reader how to handle the big feelings they may experience when something doesn’t go their way. The rhymes and rhythm this story have, along with the bright beautiful illustrations, will keep any child engaged in the story and the lessons within. And when you fall in love with the lessons and illustrations of this book, get excited, because you have two other books in this incredible series, The Magical Yet, and The Curious Why teaching your young reader more ways to deal with other big feelings.
This book follows a young boy as he looks around his home and bedroom to see more and more things! Does he need all of this? When he begins to give away his stuff, he gets a good feeling from having less. Less starts to feel better than more ever did. This good feeling only gets stronger when he goes to donate a cart full of his things, and eventually begins to show those around him how good it feels to have less. This story is told along with beautiful collages and encourages its reader to have mindfulness about how many things they have, and if more is really making them happy… or perhaps less is the way to go!
Todd Parr is back with another incredible bright colored, humorous, and heartfelt book that celebrate all the ways your young reader can be strong! But strong does not just mean big, and buff. Todd shows your little one all the different way they show strength. This reassuring story helps your young readers understand all the ways that they are resilient. A classic, empowering book from Todd Parr that will inspire and evoke feelings of strength, all while entertaining and teaching!
If your child is a fan of Paw Patrol, then they are going to LOVE this book. Filled with puppies, adventure, firetrucks, what’s not to love?! The interactive text calls out the sights and sounds associated with a fire rescue, helping reenforce learning through different senses, and extra fun for a read aloud. The spectacular read also introduces concepts related to firefighting and fire safety. If that isn’t enough to have you frantically hitting the add to cart button there is a sweet little bonus at the end that teaches about the history of firedogs. This book truly has it all!
The story of a little girl, Scamp and her cat best friend. Scamp believes that she herself is a cat! I mean, they crawl around together, play together, both hate the bath. That is until one day Scamp stands up on two legs… something cats can’t do. A unique exploration of the change’s children goes through as they grow from baby to big kid. Showing the bittersweet moments that occur as we feel ourselves growing up. An excellent engaging story to show your children the beauty of change.
