Books for Pre-Reading Skills: 7 Picks for Preschoolers

Are you looking for fun, enriching activities to do with your preschooler? What better activity than reading books together? It’s never too early to encourage a love of books, stories, and reading. Below are 7 books for pre-reading skills that foster pre-literacy and language development.

The Importance of Pre-Reading Skills

When we think of reading skills, many of us picture sounding out words, decoding sentences, and reading to learn information. But pre-reading concepts also help your child build the foundational skills that lead to school success.

Pre-reading skills include things like rhyming, paying attention to parts of words and the sounds they make (for example, “cat” starts with the /k/ sound), syllables (like “bubble” having two syllables), and learning the names of numbers and letters. Together, most of these skills fall under the umbrella of phonological awareness. Learning and practicing phonological awareness skills is a crucial early step toward becoming a strong reader.

7 Books for Pre-Reading Skills

1. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

The book’s colorful illustrations, exposure to the alphabet (letter names and symbols), silly storyline, and fill-in-the-blank rhyming opportunities make this a great read for any little one.

2. Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld

Big-machine enthusiasts will enjoy slowing their engines enough to say goodnight to all the equipment on the construction site. Parents will enjoy the beautiful illustrations and the fun rhyming text. Win-win!

3. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss

Not only is this zany classic good for rhyming awareness, it can also encourage descriptive language and imagination.

4. Jamberry, by Bruce Degan

A perhaps lesser-known children’s book (published in 1983), Jamberry will win children over with its silly and delightful tale of a boy and his friendly bear friend on a journey to make jam. This book plays with language and rhyming in a silly, lighthearted way.

5. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, by Eileen Christelow

A classic children’s rhyme that encourages active participation, Five Little Monkeys combines wordplay, silly subject matter, and language skills like cause and effect, counting, and more.

6. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle

This book is a favorite of many for good reason. Even very young readers enjoy answering the question, “What do you see?” (or “What color is it?”). To encourage expressive language, once you’ve read the book a few times, try pausing after “What do you…” and let your child fill in with “see!”

7. Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans

This classic tale about a young girl who’s not afraid of anything plays with descriptive language, rhyming, and story grammar concepts like characters, setting, problem, and solution.

Pre-Reading Tips and Resources for Parents

Are you interested in learning more ways to help build your child’s interest in reading? Check out our blog on adapted books that help engage your child and make reading more interactive. You can also find resources on how to use your child’s favorite book in a different way. If you feel like your child needs a little boost with their reading or language skills, we can help. Our experts will work to find the root issue holding your child back. Schedule a call today to get started.