Four Not-to-Be-Missed Learning Opportunities in Every Book

We all know how important it is to read to our children from a great variety of books. Children can learn so much from the stories themselves but there are also many opportunities for learning outside of the story. Here, I'll show you four not-to-be-missed parts of a book and how you can use them to teach concepts and make connections.

The author and the illustrator bio:

While many parents and teachers read the names of the author and the illustrator to children as they begin a book, take an opportunity at the end to look for the author and illustrator photos and biography. I'll be the first to admit that some are dry but others are interesting and even humorous. These short bios will expose your child to a variety of home states and even countries.

If your child enjoyed the story or the pictures let them know that often other books they've written or illustrated will be listed on this page. It is so neat when kids start to look at books and make comments like, "that looks like a Jan Brett book."

The publishing date:

Reading the publishing date, or having your child do it, can help children learn to read years. It is also a good opportunity to introduce the idea of centuries as today's young readers have a plethora of books available from the last century.

Observing the publishing date can also teach children to make time associations. My daughter loves knowing that her copy of Miss Spider's Tea Party was published in 1999, the year she was born. My son knows one of his all-time favorite books, Truck Duck, was published when he was just one year old and he got it for his first birthday in 2004. Of course when I point out that Little Bears Friend was published in 1960, before Mommy was even born, my children know that this copy is "really old."

My daughter was surprised, O.K. shocked, to discover Curious George smoking a cigar in a children's book. This gave us an opportunity to check the publishing date and talk about how societal views have changed this book had been published.

The publishing city:

Recently my four year old recognized (notice I say recognized, not read) the word "Chicago." It really surprised my husband. "Where did he get that?" he wanted to know. "We always read the publishing city in books. So he can recognize New York City and Chicago," I explained.

Since almost all of the books we read are published in New York City, finding ones that aren't is like a treasure hunt.

The dedication:

The dedication too tells us more about the author and often about their family. For example, through reading the dedications we've gleaned the names of Marc Brown's (author of the Arthur series) three children. It is fun to see that he has worked the names of his children into the illustrations of his books.

In one of our favorite books, Mammoths on the Move by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Kurt Cyrus, Wheeler says "Mammoth thanks to the librarians, clerks, and pages at the Trenton Veterans Memorial Library for all their help and support." I asked my daughter why she thought Wheeler would have needed these resources to write a book on mammoths. She came to the conclusion that since mammoths were extinct the author would have had to a lot a research to learn more about them.

As you can see, there are many opportunities for expanding learning and thinking and making connections. If we regularly check out information outside of the story, we'll often get the inside scoop. Happy reading!