Books that encourage
children to interact and
even “talk” to the main
character are particularly
effective. The Little Mouse,
the Red Ripe Strawberry, and
the Big Hungry Bear is an
example of a tale that is told
as though the narrator is
talking to the main character, a mouse. Understanding who is narrating a
story is a comprehension
skill we often take for
granted.
Kelly Petrin’s fellow
teacher Melissa Kolb
explained why she chose to
reread this book:
When I read books out loud, I am trying
to incorporate all the strategies for
reading I have learned, as well as what I
have learned about what this particular
group of children do and don’t under-
stand. The children had heard that story
many times before in small groups, read
by me or another adult, but that was the
first time I read it in the large group, and I
wanted to be specific about what was
happening and [explain] what the point
of view . . . was and also what the illus-
trator was showing in that book. . . .
Although there are simple words in the
book, the concepts extend way beyond
what is going on.
Melissa gathered the children on the
carpet and held the book up. “You
know, we have been reading this book a
lot, but we haven’t read it together,” she
told them. “This is one of those books
where you have to look carefully at the
pictures to help you figure out what’s
going on.”
“Hello, Little Mouse,” she read. “What
are you doing?”
Melissa paused and asked the kids,
“Who said that?”
“The mouse!” the kids responded.
“The mouse? No, he’s listening. That’s
one interesting thing about this book—
you can imagine that it’s you talking to
Even preschoolers
bring a world of
experience to the
printed page.
the mouse. You can be part of the
book.” As the reading continued,
Melissa reinforced the idea that the
reader is talking to the mouse.
In many books young children
encounter, the main character narrates
the story. The first-person point of view
helps draw young readers into the story
and identify with a character’s experiences; early childhood educators can
point out this text feature and
encourage children to use the narrator’s
voice as a way to step into the story. and
make it their own. En Mi Familia/In My
Family, Owl Moon, and Tar Beach are
three of many good children’s books
narrated by the main character.
Other books (such as As the Crow
Flies: A First Book of Map or Me on the
Map) include maps as part of the text,
which is a terrific way for preschool
children to learn the relationship of
objects to one another and
have fun exploring. Using
simple descriptive phrases,
such as next to, beside, in
front of, and under, helps
children understand loca-
tion, imagine how shapes
may look from different
angles, and start to inter-
pret maps.
