The Book Store

Exposing children to books and teaching them to read is essential in setting the foundation for lifelong reading. While most parents have good intentions when teaching their children to read, without the right books they often do not succeed. Fortunately there is a huge variety of materials on the market today specifically designed to teach children of every age to read. Incredibly there are often programs designed to teach infants as young as six months to read. Generally child education specialists suggest that formal reading instruction not begin till a child is around 4 years old. Prior to that age reading education should be more focused on letter recognition, fun and play. The objective is to make children enjoy reading and not make it a chore. When children do begin reading independently it is very important to provide them with books that are not only of the correct reading level but are actually of interest to the child. Just because a child is capable of reading Shakespeare they will not necessarily enjoy it!

eBook readers also known as electronic book readers have completely transformed the book industry in the past 5 years. When e readers were first introduced into the market they were quite expensive. The first kindle sold for nearly $500. You would have to be quite a voracious reader to get your monies worth from a $500 gadget. As the popularity of these electronic book readers increased and the volume of books available in electronic formats improved the cost for the devices had decreased dramatically. You can now get an entry level Kindle for as low as $79. What is even better is that these new low cost eReaders are even better than the initial $500 models. The newest cheap kindles are wafer thin and only 6 inches high. They are a perfect for school students. Most parents would hesitate sending a $500 electronic device to school with their child but would be much more likely to send a $79 kindle. In addition to name brand eReaders like the Kindle and Nook there are now many generic electronic readers on the market. This increased competition has really helped bring the cost of eReaders down to where most people can afford one.

It is an undeniable fact that exposure to books and reading at a young age is great for children. Pediatricians suggest reading to children daily from the time they are babies until even after they are able to read themselves. This foundation in reading sets children up for a lifetime love of books and reading that will benefit them far after they have completed school. In addition to reading books to children pediatricians also recommend that young children and babies be given access to books themselves. There are generally two types of books made specifically for babies – board books and fabric books. Of course no one expects that babies will actually read their books. These baby safe books work more as toys helping familiarize tots with books. The content of board books and fabric books is typically large colorful images. Babies delight in playing with their very own books just like mommy and daddy do. By exposing youngsters to books at the earliest of ages you are setting the foundation for a  lifelong love of reading and learning.