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More than ever, our youngest Americans need exposure to our shared literary and linguistic heritage—they need books more than screens, and they need caring adults to read to them. For instance, while you and I may take nursery rhymes for granted, today we need to proactively introduce our children to historical ditties such as “Humpty Dumpty” and “Old King Cole.” Oral poetry and narrative further benefit our kids by helping them develop an awareness of the sounds of language, as well as broaden their vocabulary and knowledge of the world. All of this input primes them for strong reading comprehension during their school years, and nudges them toward a life enriched with reading. Besides, sitting down with a small child and a good picture book is one of life’s satisfying experiences.
I like the idea of read-aloud collections—one investment can yield a small library of good stories. These “treasuries” vary in quality, however, so it’s important to know what you’re buying. Some story collections appear to be in-house publisher projects, either placeholders for rag-tag sets of stories that didn’t fit elsewhere, or collected classic tales graced with poor quality illustrations. Also less valuable would be a thick assemblage of read-alouds based on popular animated movies. Although a set of randomly chosen tales can be enjoyable to small children, what you may prefer to sink money into is a volume of classic stories or poems, a curated work with beautiful full-color pictures on each page. With that in mind, below are my top three recommendations for read-aloud treasuries to have around the house in case the grandkids come over.
#1: The Twentieth Century Children’s Book Treasury: Picture Books and Stories to Read Aloud- This is what I would go with if I could only pick one. Not only does it offer the original artwork for each story, but it includes many choices, and for a range of ages. Provided for your reading pleasure are classics such as Madeleine, Curious George, and Goodnight Moon. There’s a rhyming story featuring Berenstain Bears, and books that toddlers will love. This treasury will serve you and your descendants well for many years.
#2: Childcraft’s Poems and Rhymes (1976 to early eighties versions)- My mom read this to us when we were small. It is crammed with high quality pieces and crisp, vivid artwork. Shared poems not only give children a refined ear for the sounds of language (for example, rhymes can help little listeners start to distinguish the sounds within words, an important pre-reading step), but also steep them in rich language and introduce them to a heritage of writers and well-crafted works. Besides, as kids, we loved to leaf through the pages ourselves, staring fascinated at the realistic candies in the sugar-plum tree, at the creepy green goblin in the marshes, or at the elephant who got his trunk entangled in the “Telefunk” and wishing Mom were there to read that one again. It is very important that you purchase the earlier editions of this, as the cover of later versions features grotesque art that no one in his right mind would imagine was attractive and soothing for youngsters.
#3: Harper Collins Treasury of Picture Book Classics: A Child’s First Collection- This volume offers twelve stories, most of which deserve to be called contemporary classics. All illustrations featured are the original artwork. With this twelve-in-one work, your progeny will get to know indispensable new favorites such as Harold and the Purple Crayon, Crictor, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Pete’s a Pizza, Caps for Sale, and more. Invest in this collection, and you won’t ever again have to hunt around for a bedtime story for your three to seven-year-old. This is not a book that will slip easily into your carry-on, however. It must weigh about ten pounds. Also, one of the selections, William’s Doll, seems to be gentle 70’s social propaganda about gender roles. But most of the stories here are gold.
What read-aloud collections did you enjoy as a child? Are there any you especially recommend?
Discussion (22)
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How about the Little House On The Prairie series?
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Oh, for sure. I recommend that one in a post on the foundational books every child should have. These are in a different category from picture book collections to read aloud to young children.
However, publishers have come out with gorgeously illustrated Little House read-aloud books for small children (about three to five years old). These include simple text that will hold a preschooler’s attention, and even a “treasury” volume so you can have all of them in one place. Think of these as an alluring introduction to the Laura books.
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The illustrations are a plus, but I remember having Little House etc read to me as a kid.
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And the illustrations in the preschool books are full-color pictures based on Garth Williams’ work from the original series.
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Again, a plus. But "Little House" was read to me and other elementary school students in a classroom - maybe 3rd grade? not sure now - and the illustrations were not put up on a screen or something. There was just the reading aloud. But it was still a fine thing that I remember almost 60 years later.
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