Read it Again, Mommy! How to Read Aloud Favorite Books and Make Them Feel Like New
I know you read to your kids. You read at bedtime, at meal times, and in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. You’ve been told read aloud is essential for early reading development.
When you read aloud you use lots of expression and different voices to engage your kids in the story. You get drawn into the story too. It’s a wonderful shared experience.
But then you hear, “Read it again, Mommy.”
Not just today, but the next day and the next day. You’ve read it so many times now that you can quote it in your sleep. The book you enjoyed the first time has lost its charm and you’re ready to hide the book or throw it out so your child can’t find it.
What are you supposed to do when you’re tired of reading the same book 100 times?
Read it again!
There are reasons why your child wants to hear that book again and you should indulge him. But it doesn’t have to be torture for you.
There’s a solution.
I know a way to make those books feel like new, so you can keep your sanity.
Why Your Kids Want You to Read Aloud Favorite Books Over and Over Again
Preschoolers are notorious for wanting to reread favorite books. My son loves Maisy Goes to the Hospital. He looks for it on the shelf every time we visit the library. He knows the story sequence. Maisy bounces on the trampoline, breaks her foot, goes to the hospital, gets a cast, and meets a new friend while there. Even though the story doesn’t change, there’s something about it that keeps him coming back.
Your kids want you to read aloud favorite books over and over again, because it’s enjoyable. They find comfort and pleasure in hearing familiar stories. Returning to the lives of characters they’ve grown to love brings back warm memories. Your children know how the book ends, but that predictability excites them.
Why You Should Read Aloud Favorite Books Over and Over Again
Repetition helps children in many ways, so you should read aloud favorite books over and over again. Here are some specific benefits:
Improves comprehension
Young children get better at predicting, because with each new reading their understanding of the story grows. They discover things they didn’t notice in previous readings.
Rereading is a comprehension strategy we all use naturally. Think about the last time you read something. Maybe you reread a sentence because your mind was wondering and you weren’t paying close attention. Or maybe the vocabulary was unfamiliar, so your first instinct was to reread to figure out the meaning based on the context.
Builds vocabulary
Hearing the same book read aloud several times is the best way for young children to learn new words. In one study, researchers compared two different groups of preschool children to see whether repeated read alouds made a difference.
One group of children was read three different stories; the other group was read the same story repeated three times. Researchers tested how well the children could recall the new vocabulary they had heard read during each reading session. The group that heard the same story read several times far outscored the group that heard different stories with the same words.
I know from experience that my son learned the names of all the tools in Tap Tap Bang Bang by Emma Garcia at an early age. It was a favorite that he insisted on reading all the time.
Encourages independent reading
Young children are more likely to pick up a favorite read aloud to read to themselves, because it’s familiar, and they’ve memorized the text.
You’ve likely experienced your child correcting you when you misread the text during a repeated reading. Maybe you deleted a word or you replaced it with a similar word that doesn’t change the meaning. It doesn’t matter; but to your observant child it matters greatly, and he feels obligated to correct you.
Strengthens fluency
Each time you read aloud, you are modeling what natural reading speed, or fluency, sounds like.
Fluency is connected to comprehension. When a child is painstakingly trudging through each word, it’s hard for her to comprehend the meaning behind the words. She struggles to understand the story.
The more you reread that favorite book, the more your child will remember the rhythmic feel of the text. When she rereads it to herself, she’ll try to mimic that fluency you modeled.
How You Can Read Aloud Favorite Books & Make Them Feel Like New
You don’t have to moan every time your child brings you that well-loved book. Instead, practice looking at the book with new eyes. When you do this it requires more thought, but isn’t that better than just going through the motions?
Every time you pick up that book, the one you know by heart, ask yourself this question,
What is one new thing I can teach my child about reading or writing during this read aloud?
With that question in mind, you can read aloud with renewed energy and purpose.
You may even feel excited!
Now, when you read aloud, try to draw attention to what it is you want to teach by asking questions and thinking aloud.
Ask Questions
Asking questions gives you insight into what your child is thinking. It also engages him in the read aloud. Asking questions sends the message that good readers think and wonder about things as they read.
- Why do you think the character’s face looks like that?
- Do you know what that mark is at the end of this sentence?
- What do you think will happen next?
Think Aloud
To “think aloud” you simply talk about what’s going on in your mind as a reader. You let your kids see how you process the text as you read. Use this strategy when you want to explicitly teach them something new.
There are many things you could talk about with your child, but choose just one. You can always talk about another aspect of writing or reading the next time your child is begging you to read the book.
Don’t think aloud too much.
It can get distracting, and make your child lose interest in the story. Remember that the ultimate goal of read aloud is enjoyment. You’re just trying to casually throw in some comments that draw attention to the print or the illustrations that will help your child grow as a reader or writer.
What to Notice During Repeated Read Alouds
When you get into a habit of asking yourself, “What is one new thing I can teach my child about reading or writing during this read aloud?” and start looking at old books with new eyes, finding things to discuss will become second nature. Here are some ideas to get you started in this practice.
Look Closely at Print
Punctuation
Periods, question marks, commas, exclamation points, and quotation marks are symbols that you can discuss. Explain what they mean and how they help you know how to read the words.
“I saw that question mark, so I knew to make my voice sound like I’m asking a question.”
“Those quotation marks tell us that someone is talking here.”
“I read that part in a loud voice because of that little mark at the end. It’s called an exclamation point.”
Fonts or lettering formats
Authors use different fonts and lettering formats to emphasize specific words. The use of italics is a classic example. Sometimes they may bold words, increase font size, or use a new font all in the context of a sentence.
Ladybug girl is a frequently read book in our house. We’d read it tons of times before I thought to point out that the words “ladybug girl” were printed in red. My son was so excited. He had to show his dad where it said “ladybug girl” on each new page we read. He’d say, “Look, it’s red. It’s Ladybug girl again!”
Speech bubbles
Sometimes authors use speech bubbles to show the words someone says. You can find examples in many picture books and graphic novels.
“Mo Willems used speech bubbles here in this book, Don’t Let the Pigeon Ride the Bus. He didn’t write the words, “said the pigeon” but I know it’s the pigeon talking here. The speech bubble is right above his head.”
Look Closely at Illustrations
Find something new that you didn’t see before
It amazes me how much material in picture books goes unnoticed during the first read through. Imagine how much we’d never experience with our kids, if we didn’t pick up those books again and again.
I think I’ve read aloud Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann at least 100 times, first to my daughter and now to my son. Since the book is considered a wordless book, you’re kind of forced to pay attention to the illustrations.
I remember the first time we noticed that someone is watching Joe as the animals follow him into his house. Later when his wife takes them home, there are more people watching from the window. It brought up a fun discussion about the neighbors and what they might be thinking.
During other read alouds, we’d notice how each key matched the color of the cage. Or we’d focus on the activity of the little mouse carrying the banana. My daughter loved to search for the helium balloon as it got further and further away throughout the story.
Talk about why the illustrator made the choices he/she made
Illustrators make conscious decisions about how their pictures contribute to the story. They choose different techniques, color, and mediums to express the mood, setting, time, and characters’ feelings.
Ask open-ended questions for older children, and use the think aloud strategy for younger children, or for older children who need guidance.
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Mood
What clues do the illustrations give us about the mood of the story?
Chris Van Dusen creates a dismal, foreboding mood in The Circus Ship by using color and perspective. On the first two-page spread, the ship looks lost at sea. The colors are limited to shades of blue-purple. There’s a single yellow light in the bridge that’s reflecting on the water, giving you the sense that the captain is struggling to guide the ship through the foggy, rough seas.
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Setting
What do you see that helps us know the setting of the story?
“I can tell The Mitten takes place in the Ukraine because of the style and patterns on the clothes Baba and Nicki are wearing.”
The Circus Ship, that was mentioned above, takes place on an island in Maine. You’d know it was Maine, because Van Dusen includes pine trees, granite rocks, New England-style houses, and deep blue water in his illustrations.
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Time
What did the illustrator do to show the time of day or time of year?
In Stanley the Builder, and all the other Stanley books by William Bee, there’s an alarm clock on Stanley’s bedpost that shows us the exact time he goes to bed each night.
Kitten’s First Full Moon is one of my favorite books by Kevin Henkes. In this particular book all of the illustrations are in black and white. Henkes’s choice of colors helps us know that it’s nighttime and also helps convey the mood.
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Characters’ Feelings
What clues do the illustrations give us about the characters?
I recently used this think aloud when reading Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson. “I can tell the bear is very sad. He put his face in his hands as if he were crying.”
In The Three Bears by Byron Barton, you can tell that Goldilocks is really surprised and scared when she opens her eyes and sees the three bears staring at her. She is pictured running out the door; her mouth is wide open and her arms are outstretched above her head. When my son was a toddler, he and I would act out the part of Goldilocks every time we came to that page.
Conclusion
Children love to be comforted by familiar stories. With a little effort on our part, repeated read-alouds can be fresh, exciting, and wonderful learning opportunities. Each reading improves comprehension, builds vocabulary, encourages independent reading, and strengthens fluency in children.
Change your perspective and ask yourself, “What is one new thing I can teach my child about reading or writing during this read aloud?” It can make the world of difference.
The options are limitless. You will never run out of things to discuss when you put your mind to it. Your child will start to see books in a whole new light, too.
If you’d like a printable to help you remember what to look for and what question to ask yourself, just sign up below.
Your Turn
Does your child have a favorite read aloud that you’re tired of reading? What can you add to this list of “things to notice” when reading aloud? I’d love to hear your ideas.
Resources
Horst, Jessica S., Kelly L. Parsons, and Natasha M. Bryan. “Get the Story Straight: Contextual Repetition Promotes Word Learning from Storybooks.” Frontiers in Psychology 2 (2011): 17. PMC. Web. 25 Feb. 2018.
