Goodnight, House

Here is the key to the house.
In the house burns a light,
In the light rests a bed,
On that bed waits a book...

While looking for the right books for the program, Raising Readers reviews 100's of picture books and board books. With only 14 books chosen each year to be given to Maine kids, many wonderful books get set aside. We hope to highlight books here that we have truly loved.

The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson and illustrated by Beth Krommes has the comforting night rhythms of books like Goodnight, Moon and This is the House That Jack Built.

The beautiful black and white illustrations (done on scratchboard by Krommes) are touched with areas of yellow giving nighttime a reassuring warm glow.

The book follows a family inside as the sun goes down and as the child prepares for bed. An open book on the bed leads the child on a magical ride through the night sky. This book is sure to send everyone gently to sleep and subtly promote the magic of stories.

You can always look at Books We Recommend on everything from Bedtime to Rhyme to Toilet Training on our website.

New Book for 6-Month-Olds!

As you may know, Raising Readers changes its book selections every year so that siblings do not end up with the same book.

We just started giving out Baby Says Peekaboo! (DK Publishing) to six-month-old babies at the well-child visits.

Why do we try to always include a peek-a-boo book in the Raising Reader collection? Well, because we are committed to baby's brain growth! There is something in the anticipation a baby feels waiting for a picture to be revealed in a peek-a-boo or lift-the-flap book that stimulates a baby's brain.

When you are reading a peek-a-boo book you can increase the delicious anticipation by repeating the question. For example, "Where is the baby? Do you see the baby? Is the baby hiding?" Then suck in your breath in surprise as you reveal the hidden baby under the flap and say loudly, "Peek-a-Boo!" Laugh with your baby and squeeze your baby as you do this. Doing so will make your baby even more excited to see the next page and lift the next flap!

Story Walk

Raising Readers is thrilled to be working with Tory Rogers, M.D. and Jill Prescott of the Children's Co-op , the folks at Let's Go! to develop the idea and design for Story Walk.

Story Walk allows families to walk alongside a path reading the pages of a picture book--thus combining literacy and physical activity.

We are developing the pilot with Cathryn Falwell's SCOOT! because of all its delicious action words.

Cathryn has created additional action illustrations that show kids how to move like the animals in the story.

Stay tuned for more news on the program. Now scoot, scurry, hurry, your way to the Story Walk Photos.