Here are some tips for reading with your toddler:

• Have a special time for reading with your toddler every day. Some families read after dinner or as a part of their bedtime routine. Toddlers may want to read a favorite book--again and again--because they love the story and love feeling close to you. When they get older they will have new favorites.
• Read when your toddler asks you to, so that your toddler will know that you think reading is important. If you can't stop what you are doing, suggest that the child look at a book alone for a while or ask another family member to read to the child.
• Take your toddler to the library so that the child can pick out his or her own books. Keep the books in a special place at home so that they won't get lost or damaged. Watch for secondhand children's books to buy at yard sales and local bazaars.

Toddlers like to join in while you read out loud

• Look for books that let your toddler do something such as touch and feel the pictures. Some books can be scratched and sniffed, or squeezed to make noises. Some books have pull-tabs that make things pop up or move to reveal hidden pictures. Books like these may wear out before your toddler gets tired of reading them.
• Choose books with repeated words, rhymes, and phrases that your toddler can remember. If you read these books again and again, the child might join in at the right time and feel that he or she is reading too.
• Ask your toddler questions about the pictures in a book. "Who's that?" "Where do you think he's going?" "What do cows say?" Have the child point to people and objects in the pictures. "Where's the...?
• Talk about your toddler's real-life experiences. "That looks like your raincoat. What did you do when you played in the rain today?"

Toddlers like to look at books on their own.

• Keep your toddler's books on low, open shelves or in an open box or basket on the floor so that the child can reach them without help. Stand the books upright so that the covers are easy to see. Keep books in different places--in the bag that goes to child care, in the bathroom, in the car, and next to the child's bed.
• Suggest books your toddler might like to look at alone. Your child can talk about the people and animals in a favorite book, make up a story about what's happening in a wordless picture book, or name the objects in a book filled with pictures.
• Help your toddler learn to care for books. Show your child how to turn the pages so they won't tear. Board books are great for this age. Help your child to put away books after reading them. Some well-loved books will wear out.
• Ask your toddler to help you fix his or her own damaged books. Your child can show you which pages are torn and hold the book open while you patch the pages.

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