Don’t They Just Play? Role Play Reading


The picture above of Immy ‘reading’ would be a common sight for parents of toddlers and preschoolers who live in book-rich homes.

This reading-like behaviour is a very important step in learning to read. Though it looks like the child is playing at reading, these experiences develop and reinforce important reading concepts, including;

  • The ability to turn the pages in sequence, from the front of the book to the end
  • Remembering and communicating the meaning of the story in their own words
  • Recognition that the story remains constant each time it is read
  • Using the picture as a prompt, a context for what the story is about
  • Familiarity with the ‘language’ of books which differs from everyday conversational language
  • Understanding that the print contains the story, not the pictures
  • That reading books is a pleasurable past time

Parents can support this development by;

1. Reading with their children each day.

2. Continuing to introduce new books on an ongoing basis.

3. Choosing books with engaging stories, great pictures and fun language (membership of a local library is a wonderful way to keep refreshing your book collection).

4. Selecting books that are a little longer and more complex as the child’s attention span increases.

5. Encouraging their child to ‘read’ or retell familiar stories to them.

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15 Comments

  1. We love "I love you, Stinky Face," "Corduroy," "Giggle Giggle Quack," and "Big City Song."

    And about a million more!

  2. My 1 year old is loving "I Love You Through and Through". My 3 year old is loving "The Gruffalo" and her Robert Munsch collections.

  3. Wow, that's tough, we have so many favorites! Lately he's been "reading" me "The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear". We also started reading "Snowy Day" again lately – it was a favorite a while ago and then got ignored for a bit, but we've had lots of snow here lately so he's into it again. Other favorites are "Hug" and "Tall" by Jez Alborough (barely any text so nice for little ones to practice storytelling from the pictures), "Where the Wild Things Are", "Dirty Bertie", "No, David!"… I could go on and on!

  4. Recently I was book shopping for some friends who are about to have babies… I bought them Mem Fox books: 'Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes' (so gorgeous) and 'Where is the Green Sheep' which has taught my little girl concepts like up/down, near/far, etc. (we move the book up/down etc. as we read it).

    I also bought a new book for my little girl – 'Josephine Wants to Dance' by Jackie French. It is SO adorable!

  5. My older kids are a bit past the toddler stage (6.5 and almost 5, and both reading) but at around Immy's age (2 or so) they loved:
    – Guess How Much I Love You
    – Pamela Allen's books, especially Bertie and the Bear, Cuthbert's Babies, and Daisy Allsorts
    – Sandra Boynton's marvellous boardbooks, especially Moo Baa La La La and Doggies
    – Goodnight Moon
    There were lots more but these were stand-out favourites.

    My 1-year-old loves her little "Who is Hiding" flap books, her Pooh Bear board books, her Peter Rabbit cloth books, and like her sisters, Goodnight Moon. She also loves anything that makes a noise – we have a number of books with buttons to push etc and Miss C adores them.

  6. Hear Mum Roar says:

    My nine year old is into the 'Beast Quest' series at the moment, my three year old son enjoys a book we have called, 'Please' and my almost two year old daughter likes her tactile books, I can't remember the name of them, but you know the type: they have rough, fluffy, smooth etc textures. All of them are obsessed with books!

  7. Wellspring Community School says:

    Thanks for this post. It always warms my heart to see my kids "reading"! Right now we are loving Not a Box and Not a Stick, and the Squiggle. We enjoy coming up with our own ideas!

  8. We are big fans of anything and everything by Alison Lester (The Magic Beach, Are we There Yet, Imagine etc)

    Ditto Charlie and Lola books

  9. Oh and the Baby's Catalogue by Alan/Janet Ahlberg I think thats who it is great book

    Also classics like Who Sank the Boat, We're Going on a Bear Hunt and pretty much anything by Mem Fox and Eric Carle

  10. We love the repetitive ones here! "Who sank the boat?" (Pamela Allen), "The very hungry catepillar" (Eric Carle), "We're going on a bear hunt", "The magic hat" (Mem Fox), almost anything by Dr. Suess. It is so much fun to stop and get your 2 year old to finish e.g. "On Monday he ate through one apple, but…" "HE WAS STILL HUNGRY!". My daughter loves rhyme too. It is so cute to hear her try to retell her version of the stories – lots of babble with the keywords thrown in here and there…

  11. SquiggleMum says:

    Oh where do I start? My favourites or the kids' faves?! I guess the answer is that anything by Mem Fox, Eric Carle, Jackie French, Stephen Michael King or Bruce Whatley keeps us all happy 🙂

  12. Antonella says:

    This week, my 20 month old loves "Hairy McLairy" … and, oh dear, I"ve just realised I don't know if I've spelt it properly. Amazing after so many readings. I can't check it because it is next her bed, and she is sound asleep right now. She especially loves the tom cat in the story, but consequently thinks "meowwsftz", with a screech and a claw-like hand movement is the standard sound for any cat.

    She is also a big fan of "Maisy's Big Flap Book" and "Where is Panda?", also from the Maisy series (both by Lucy Cousins).

    She adores "On Your Potty" (Virginia Miller) which she calls the "Nah Nah" book. I think it's helping with her toilet training too, but not sure.

    A few weeks ago "It's Mine" was a big hit. She loved repeating the phrase loudly each time a new animal was revealed. Right now she is understanding much more about the clues in each page. I love the way books generate new layers of meaning for her every few weeks at this stage.

  13. Busy Brissy Mum says:

    This is a tough one. A series we enjoy reading is by Jez Alborough. The books are 'Where's My Teddy?', 'It's the Bear!' and 'My Friend Bear'. We also love Fancy Nancy thanks to Elise's blog post at Inspiration Surrounds, Creativity Abounds. Lots in there for little girls to love.

  14. Our 13 month old loves the Harry & the Bucketful of Dinosaurs series & can sit through the stories though they are a tad long for his age!

  15. I think my 2-year-old would eat Maisy if that were an option. The bright colors, the simple stories about everyday experiences–both real and imaginary–appeal so strongly to her. Sometimes we read in order and go through the story, and other times we simply look through and talk about what we see and what they're doing.

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