An adult and child reading together

5 Books Your 3-5 year Old Needs To Read

Reading is a great opportunity for you to bond with your child and join them in the exploration of their imagination. At such a young age it is important to allow your child to imagine and even take the story further and tell it themselves. 

By creating a time to read together each day, you are encouraging a love of reading and developing their reading skills such as: phonemic awareness, letter sounds, vocabulary expansion, comprehension skills and more. 

These are some things you can do to encourage your child to try reading on their own:

  • Read expressively, like you’re performing. Act out different actions and voices for characters and watch your child’s eyes light up. This helps your child to imagine every character and setting
  • Point to different parts of the pictures in the book, see if your child can find some of the characters and encourage conversation about what they notice
  • Read whatever book your child asks you to read! They’ve shown an interest in it, so explore that.

The benefits of reading to preschoolers is that they begin to develop an imagination and start connecting ideas, learning more from the experience.

Need some books recommendations that are suitable for your child? See if you can borrow these from your local library. 

Here are some additional resources for you to try when encouraging reading:

How to Choose the Right Books for My Child 

Why Reading is So Important 

7 Strategies to Improve Reading Comprehension

Here are the 5 books every child from 3-5 should read:

The Same But Different Too
The Same but Different Too by Karl Newson & Kate Hindley (illustrator) 

This is a book about being different and how so many people and things in our world are diverse, teaching children how to interact with the people and situations they face. 

Sulwe

Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o and Vashti Harrison (illustrator)

This book educates children on how what someone wears and their appearance is linked to their identity and self-expression, and how they should respect that. 

My Friend Earth

My Friend Earth by Patricia MacLachlan and Francesca Santa (illustrator)

This book is a true celebration of our Earth and everything it provides us. It is also a story about how to reconnect with nature and the world around you, to understand the human impact on our planet. 

Yes! No! A First Conversation about Consent

Yes! No! A First Conversation about Consent by Isabel Roxas, Jessica Ralli & Megan Madison 

Consent can be a difficult concept to traverse with children of such a young age, but it is vital that they understand what the importance of consent. This book is part of a series to help parents discuss and educate their children on developing social awareness. 

A beautifully written and illustrated book.

I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark

I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy and Elizabeth Baddeley (illustrator)

Does your child know it is ok to question people, practices and actions? This book cleverly outlines Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s motives for creating a better justice system, and exposes children to a great role model to develop their courage and conviction. 

Children’s “I Love to Read” resources available at Randwick City Library.

Read and Listen Resources available at Liverpool City Library.

Storytime online with Stef Gemmill available online on WEDNESDAY 18 May 2022 11am to 11:30am