Parents Are the Best Teachers to Get Their Children Ready to Read
- You are your child’s first and most important teacher.
- You know your child best.
- Children are most ready to learn when they are in a good mood. You know your child’s moods best.
- Children learn best by doing things, so take every chance you can to read with your children. Tell stories, talk about them, say nursery rhymes, and sing songs.
There are 5 simple things you can do with your child to help them succeed. Take a few minutes out of each day to Read, Write, Sing, Play, and Talk with your child. These easy acts make a big difference in a child’s life.
Check out our Simple Steps Literacy Kits and help your child experience the Simple Steps in new ways!
Pasos Sencillos: Esto es fácil de hacer, cada día, donde quiera que esté. No toma mucho tiempo. Son pasos simples para el éxito.
To see these five literacy steps in action, please attend one of our many storytimes.
The Simple Steps program is made possible through a generous grant from:
Simple Steps Reading Lists
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Kiyoshi's Walk
Where do poems come from? This beautiful picture book about a young aspiring poet and his grandfather shows that the answer lies all around us--if we take the time to look.
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Flo
Meet Flo! Flo is the littlest panda. She likes to explore, relax, and enjoy everything around her. She is never in a hurry. But . . . sometimes she takes too much time, and the other pandas get impatient. One day they find themselves in trouble. Can Flo’s floppy ways save the day? With Kyo Maclear’s sweet, spare text and Jay Fleck’s bold, bright illustrations, Flo is sure to be a favorite for even the busiest little pandas!
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Counting with a Ladybug
Follow tactile finger trails and cut-out shapes in this sturdy counting book for kids that helps develop your child's fine motor and number skills.
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We're Going on a Bear Hunt: My First 123
Follow the path and get counting with a first numbers adventure based on the best-loved world of the We're Going on a Bear Hunt.
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Play with Paint!
When it comes to painting, there are so many possibilities! Mix colors, swish your brush around, and see what sorts of marks you can make with just your hand and a bit of paint in this adorable board book!
Creative play meets self-expression in this board book perfect for budding-artist babies! -
Are Your Stars Like My Stars?
In beautiful, evocative rhyme, this lovely picture book helps children consider the colors of their everyday lives . . . and imagine how others around the world experience the very same things.
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Let's Play Monsters!
Inspired by a game she played with her own grandchild, the creator of Maisy brings her crayon-bright colors to a story that will have little monsters running for a listen.
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One Springy, Singy Day
A joyful ode to toddlerdom that follows a group of little ones through one buzzy, busy day!
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Grace and Box
Grace and Box have become fast friends. Box delivered a refrigerator earlier in the week and by the end of it, Grace and Box had already been to space, gone camping, and explored the depths of the sea together.
But on Sunday, Grace notices something’s wrong with her buddy. Box has some rips and crumples that Band-Aids, ice packs, and rest on the couch can’t seem to heal. Grace certainly doesn't want these adventures to end, so she is determined to fix Box so that they can continue their play together!
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Hello World!
Hello World! is the perfect reminder that the journeys we take through life are all about the people we will meet along the way--people who will make us smarter, stronger, and more amazing than we ever thought possible. With her trademark inspirational wisdom, Kelly Corrigan writes the perfect book for anyone about to embark on a new adventure.
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How Do You Dance?
There are so many ways to dance! You can jiggle or wiggle or stomp. You can bop or bounce or go completely nuts. You can dance at the market or the bus stop, with your fingers or your face. You can dance because you're happy or even because you're sad.
But, what's the best way to dance? Exactly how you want to!
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Can You Make a Happy Face?
Toddlers will explore all kinds of feelings and emotions while making fun faces!
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From Head to Toe = De la cabeza a los pies
A bilingual English and Spanish board book edition of From Head to Toe, the bestselling classic from beloved author and illustrator Eric Carle.
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Just a Story
Reading is wild, dangerous... fantastic! The possibilities are endless, the perils enormous--good thing it's just a story.
A boy happens upon a discarded book that transforms a library into an escalating series of near misses and close encounters with dastardly pirates, a herd of scooter-riding elephants, a big blue whale, and is that an alien in an Elvis wig?
But surprise, he escapes without a scratch, because it's just a story...
With an exuberant art style reminiscent of newspaper comic strips, illustrator Jeff Mack brings imagination to life in this riotous tale about the power of reading.
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You Have to Read This Book!
Morris is excited to share his favorite childhood book with his son, Benny. The problem? Benny isn’t interested.
Not even if it’s the last book in the pile.
Not even if it’s the last book in the house.
Not even if it’s the only book Morris brings on their desert vacation, and their plane has just left, and their train has just departed, and the camel they rode in on is far, far, away.
And they are stranded.
Not even then.
Unless...?