Thursday 17 January 2013

Reading aloud to children. Remember Dr Seuss?

Summer in Sydney is all about the sun, surf and Sydney festival.  Events at the Sydney Opera House are such a treat for all ages.
One of the wonderful children's shows presented is "The Cat in the Hat" live version of the Dr Seuss classic book, originally by the National Theatre, Britain now being performed by an all Australian cast.

Dr Seuss, Theodor Seuss Geisel, was born in 1904.  He recalled that his mother used to "soothe her children to sleep by chanting rhymes".  Ted, as he was known to his family, credits his mother for his later "ability and desire to create rhymes".  He started out as a cartoonist in his working life.  After 27 rejections of his first book 'And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street', it was finally published in 1937.

Dr Seuss, as he became known, was commissioned to write 'The Cat in the Hat' using only 225 "new-reader" vocabulary words.  'The Cat in the Hat' has become a classic children's picture book, still enjoyed by families all over the world.  This book is even more special because it was written to help improve the literacy skills of children across the USA.  It was written to be read aloud and for young readers to learn to read.

Reading aloud rhyming, rhythmic books is so important for children's literacy preparation.  It makes them pay attention to the words, patterns and improves their listening skills.  Hearing and saying rhymes and word patterns is an essential pre-reading skill.  How wonderful it is to have fantastic books to read aloud and have fun with words.  It is a delight to share with your kids and helps prepare them for school literacy learning.

Check out my series of read aloud books, specifically written, with rhyme, alliteration and rhythmic patterns to help preschoolers get ready to read.  I hope you have a joyous time reading them to your kids with expression, rhythm and emphasis on the rhymes. :)  Enjoy Carlos the Caterpillar and friends!
www.gettingreadytoread.com

Check out the YouTube vision of a trailer of the live show and see the rapture on the children's faces.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IL-NdQXyeE






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