Great books to share ahead of school transition
Sharing books with a child is such a wonderful way to build special time into each day, I have so many fond memories of my mother reading with me as a child. On top of all the wonderful relationship benefits, sharing stories also supports the development of key early learning skills which support children as they enter into education at nursery and school. Reading supports;
- Shared attention
- Language development
- Pre literacy skills (including turning pages, following from left to right, understanding narrative structure, recognising that pictures and text carry meaning)
- Social and emotional development
Reading stories about school is a fun, non-threatening way to help children to begin to think about what school might be like. Talking about relatable characters, rather than themselves, may help them to gain some understanding before talking about their own feelings. There are so many lovely children’s books on this topic, here are a few of our favourites to share whilst preparing for transition into education.
I Want My Mummy! (Tracey Corderoy)
A lovely book for little ones who find separation from their parents tricky. Although the book is not focused on school, it offers a good opportunity to explore feelings about being away from caregivers. Preschoolers really identify with Arthur who is away from his mum for the first time.
Jake and Tizzy Series (ICAN Charity)
Jake and his toy tiger Tizzy are the central characters of a series of eight picture books about the day to day life of a preschooler. The books focus on familiar activities such as attending nursery, celebrating a birthday and playing hide and seek. The beauty of the books is in their relatable simplicity. When I first got the books I thought they were overly simple but I soon discovered that my then three year old loved the familiar themes and asked for the books time and time again. In fact, later when she started to read she went back to these books to proudly read them aloud to me. They seemed almost to be a comfort blanket for her as the narrative reflected her own experiences of nursery and home life. At the back of each book are some top tips for supporting early language and literacy skills.
The books are part of ICAN’s Early Talkboost language intervention programme but they can be purchased as a stand alone resource from their online shop. (By the way this is a REALLY great intervention programme for the early years practitioners among you.)
https://icancharity.org.uk/resources/jake-and-tizzy-complete-set-titles-1-8
Starting School (Allen Ahlberg)
When I taught Reception aged children this was the first book we would read together at the start of each year. This book has beautiful illustrations and a good dollop of humour.
Harry and the Dinosaurs go to School (Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynolds)
A super fun book about Harry’s first day at school and how his dinosaurs help him to overcome his nerves, causing some chaos along the way. Ideal for any dino lovers!
Topsy and Tim Start School (Jean Adamson and Belinda Worsley)
Did you read any Topsy and Tim books as a child? If so, this book is an ideal opportunity to share a some reading experiences from your own childhood and talk about when you started school. Little ones often find it reassuring (and exciting) to know that you have had similar experiences to them.
We hope you have fun reading together and talking about getting ready for a new chapter in the story of your little person’s life, it really is a time to savour.
To get more of our top tips and tools join our Confident Communicators Group (supporting development for 2 – 5 year olds).
The group is open to parents/ carers/ grandparents and early years practitioners.
Do come along and join us!
