Want your child to be an independent reader? Ask your friendly Library staff, “Where are the ‘Readers’”? To help parents choose, many publishers label books for beginning readers. Level One is for readers who are beginning to sound out words and sentences Level Two is for those who still need a parent’s help. Levels Three and Four offer both fiction and nonfiction and are for children who are ready to read on their own.

Look for classic titles like Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss and funny new titles like Mo Willems’ There Is A Bird On Your Head. Meet Little Bear, Frog & Toad, and Amelia Bedelia in the “I Can Read”series. Easy-to-read jokes and riddles, baby animals, big machines, and biographies are on the non-fiction shelves.

But don’t stop reading to your child just because they can read to themselves. Even after they’re able to read independently, children still enjoy listening to books. Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe or Heckedy Peg by Audrey and Don Wood are great readalouds. Or read short chapter books like Stories Julian Tells by Ann Cameron and the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne with your new reader.

Soon you’ll hear your child say, “I can read by myself!”