Corvallis-Benton County Public Library

Books on Early Literacy | Early Literacy Resources Online | Every Child Ready to Read | Literacy Classes 

"The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children." (National Commission of Reading)

Check out the Birth to Six blog for recommended materials, events, and information related to early literacy in the community. For more information about materials and resources available at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, please contact the Youth Services Department at (541) 766-6794 or by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

 Recommended Books on Early Literacy

Art Across the Alphabet: Over 100 art experiences that enrich early literacy by Kelly Justus Campbell

At a Loss for Words: How America is failing our children and what we can do about it by Betty Bardige

The Big Book of Pre-K Learning Centers: Activities, ideas & strategies that meet the standards, build early concepts, and prepare children for kindergarten by Diane Ohanesian.

The Big Book of Stories, Songs, and Sing-Alongs: Programs for babies, toddlers, and families by Beth Maddigan

Boys and Literacy by Elizabeth Knowles and Martha Smith

Building Literacy with Love: A guide for teachers and caregivers of children from birth through age 5 by Betty Bardige

Creating Readers: Over 1000 games, activities, tongue twisters, fingerplays, songs, and stories to get children excited about reading by Pam Schiller

The Complete Book of Activities, Games, Stories, Props, Recipes, and Dances for Young Children by Pam Schiller and Jackie Silberg

Do You Know the Muffin Man?: An essential preschool literacy resource by Pam Schiller and Thomas Moore

The Encyclopedia of Infant and Toddler Activities: For children birth to 3 edited by Kathy Charner, Maureen Murphy, and Charlie Clark

Everyday Literacy: Environmental print activities for children 3-8 by Stephanie Mueller

First Art: Art experiences for toddlers and twos by MaryAnn F. Kohl

The Giant Encyclopedia of Monthly Activities : For children 3 to 6 by Kathy Charner

Great Big Book of Rhythm by Jackie Weissman

How to Get Your Child to Love Reading by Esmé Raji Codell

by Gretchen Owocki and Yetta Goodman

Literacy and the Youngest Learner: Best practicies for educators of children from birth to five by V. Susan Bennett-Armistead, Nell K. Duke, and Annie M. Moses

Literacy Play: Over 300 dramatic play activities that teach pre-reading skills by Sherrie West and Amy Cox

More than Letters: Literacy activities for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade by Sally Moomaw and Brenda Hieronymus

Mudpies to Magnets: A preschool science curriculum by Robert A. Williams, Robert E. Rockwell, and Elizabeth A. Sherwood

Little Hands Gingerplays & Action Songs : Seasonal activities & creative play for 2- to 6-year-olds by Emily Stetson and Vicky Congdon

Shared Storybook Reading : Building young children's language & emergent literacy skills by Helen K. Ezell

Squish, Sort, Paint & Build: Over 200 easy learning center activities by Sharon MacDonald

Story Stretchers: Activities to expand children's favorite books by Shirley C. Raines and Robert J. Canady

Toddlers Together: The complete planning guide for a toddler curriculum by Cynthia Catlin

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 Early Literacy Resources Online

Children’s Booklists on the Web
Notable children’s books on the web, including a guide to theme-related bibliographies.

Colorín Colorado
Provides information and activities in both English and Spanish that promote early literacy skills.

Every Child Ready to Read
Information on the six pre-reading skills research has shown that children must have in order to become ready to read.

Get Ready to Read
Information on early literacy, check lists for home and childcare settings, screening tools, and more.

Get Set for Kindergarten
A month-by-month guide to school readiness for parents from the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenberg County.

Helping Your Child Become a Reader
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. Includes guidelines, information and games.

International Reading Association: Web Resources
The International Ready Association has brought together hundreds of resources on reading, including "Teaching Tools", "Issues in Literacy", and "Literacy Community". This site contains excellent booklists as well.

Jim Trelease on Reading
This site covers all of Jim Trelease's efforts in helping children make books into friends, not enemies. Includes excerpts from his books, data on his lecture schedule, book reviews, and information on ordering his audios, videos and books.

Just One More Book!
"A podcast about children's books we love and why we love them – recorded in our favorite coffee shop."

The Mother Goose Pages
A comprehensive list of nursery rhymes. Also includes tips for reading nursery rhymes with children.

National Center for Family Literacy
Dedicated to promoting literacy in children and families. Find literacy events, tips, and more in the "Resources" section.

Planet Esme
Book suggestions for children of all ages, tips for making reading fun and more from children's book author and former teacher, Esme Raji Codell.

Reading Rockets
Find recommended books for all ages, webcasts, author interviews, monthly quiz about books, and more.

Ready at Five Partnership
A Maryland-based non-profit dedicated to making sure all children are ready to read by kindergarten.

Ready to Read
A booklet featuring 15 children's books and how to use them to promote early literacy skills in young children. From King County Library System, WA.

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Every Child Ready to Read

Every Child Ready to Read A joint project of the Public Library Association & the Association for Library Services to Children

Six early literacy skills

Children need a variety of skills in order to become successful readers. The National Research Council recommends that children enter school with six specific "early literacy skills" that serve as the foundation for learning to read and write. Children who enter school with more of these skills are better able to benefit from the reading instruction they receive when they arrive at school.

Vocabulary
Knowing the names of things, vocabulary is an extremely important skill for children to have when they are learning to read. Most children enter school knowing between 3,000 and 5,000 words.

Print Motivation
Print Motivation is a child's interest in and enjoyment of books. A child with print motivation enjoys being read to, plays with books, pretends to write, asks to be read to and likes trips to the library.

Print Awareness
Print Awareness includes learning that writing in English follows basic rules such as flowing from top-to-bottom and left-to-right, and that the print on the page is what is being read by someone who knows how to read. An example of print awareness is a child's ability to point to the words on the page of a book.

Narrative Skills
Narrative Skills, being able to understand and tell stories, and describe things, are important for children being able to understand what they are learning to read. An example of a narrative skill is a child's ability to tell what happens at a birthday party or on a trip to the zoo.

Letter Knowledge
Letter Knowledge includes learning that letters have names and are different from each other, and that specific sounds go with specific letters. An example of letter knowledge is a child's ability to tell the name of the letter B and what sound it makes.

Phonological Awareness
Phonological Awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the smaller sounds in words. Phonological awareness includes the ability to hear and create rhymes, to say words with sounds or chunks left out and the ability to put two word chunks together to make a word. Most children who have difficulty in reading have trouble in phonological awareness.

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