The Read-Aloud Handbook

by Jim Trelease

Therefore, if you want different apples, change the tree.

“What we teach children to love and desire will always outweigh what we make them learn.”

There should be no rush to have a child reading before age six or seven. That’s developmentally the natural time.

Finland refuses to teach children to read until age seven and it boasts the world’s highest reading scores

“The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.”

“It is a practice that should continue throughout the grades.”15 The commission found conclusive evidence to support reading aloud not only in the home but also in the classroom.

The one prekindergarten skill that matters above all others, because it is the prime predictor of school success or failure, is the child’s vocabulary upon entering school.