Resources for Raising Readers

September 3, 2024

I’ve been writing about raising readers for a long time now and have spent even longer researching anything remotely related to this topic. There’s so much information out there, I am not — nor have I ever claimed to be — an expert on this subject, and best of all, there’s no right or wrong way to cultivate a love of books and reading. What works for me and my kiddos might not work for you and yours, but we can take what we like, adapt it for our own uses, and leave the rest. (Refreshing, no?)

Today I’m sharing a collection of resources I’ve found helpful over the years. Some I’ve created myself, many others have created — it’s my hope that you’ll find something here that meets you where you’re at, no matter the age or stage of the children in your life or the circumstances in which you read aloud or foist books upon these lucky kids.

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Resources I’ve created

(How) Can we read? issues

Many issue of this newsletter take a deep dive into a specific aspect of raising readers. I’ve called these (How) Can we read?, because they’ve focused on just that — how to do the thing we want to do here.

There are, at the time of writing this, 13 of these — here are a few:

(How) Can we read? Creating environments and routines for reading

(How) Can we read? The case for continued picture books

Why poetry matters for kids

The full list of these issues can be found on my Resources page, which is a repository of — surprise! — resources.

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Can we read?’s Children’s Poetry Almanac

At the very end of 2024, I created something I’ve been dreaming of for years — a short guide offering poetry picks for every month of the year, appealing to preschoolers through late-elementary-aged kiddos — Can we read’s Children’s Poetry Almanac.

Each month includes five recommended titles: one review plus four additional suggestions. Here’s a sneak peek inside, which I don’t normally share.

You can begin using this guide at any time — you don’t have to wait until January!

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Can we read? Seasonal picture book guides

This year I’ve also been working on a long-term — well, year-long — project: seasonal downloadable guides to picture books. Most recently, I released Can we read?’s Children’s Picture Books for Fall:

Since this is a donation-based newsletter — meaning there’s no paywall, everything is free for everyone and paid subscribers support my work because they want to and not because it provides greater access — I don’t offer many extras. Except these guides. My seasonal guides are complimentary for paid subscribers and available for purchase for everyone else.

(However, these guides are an excellent way to get access to years’ worth of my book reviews without having to become a paid subscriber.)

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Resources others have created

I remember in ye olde days of 2020-21 when I would panic every time I found another Substacker writing about children’s books, worrying constantly that they were going to “do it better,” whatever the hell that means.

Pretty quickly I realized “better” is meaningless — there is always going to be someone “better” than me. I don’t want to waste my energy on the hamster wheel of comparison, which gives my anxiety brain something to do but doesn’t actually get me anywhere. My jam is doing my thing, writing this newsletter. I don’t see myself as being in competition with other people writing about children’s books — absolutely not. Only I can write Can we read?, and only they can write their newsletters, and together, we make this whole cool ecosystem, made 1000x better (a good “better!”) by the fact that we support each other.

Some other Substacks about children’s books and raising readers:

• AT THE KID TABLE by Rachel Michelle Wilson

• MOONBOW by Taylor Sterling

• Mittens and Boots by Julie Turner

• Readable Moments by Sri Juneja

• Library Stax by Alexis Davis

• The Magic Book House by Katie Wickliff

• Sarah’s Smorgasbord by Sarah Allen

• Snippets & Sketches by Rebecca Gomez

• Book Party by Clarkie Doster

• Petit Bookworms

You should check out and subscribe to them all.

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Books I Recommend

The following are some (some) of the books I recommend most often on the topic of raising readers and building a culture of reading in your home:

• Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever by Mem Fox

• The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction by Meghan Cox Gurdon

• Jim Trelease’s Read-Aloud Handbook: Eighth Edition by Cyndi Georgis

I have two posts reviewing these titles and more:

Books for raising readers: Part 1

Books for raising readers: Part 2

The following are some of the books I recommend if you are looking for outstanding booklists, especially if you are building your home library and/or seeking age- and interest-related titles:

• How to Get Your Child to Love Reading by Esme Raji Codell

• The New York Times Parent's Guide to the Best Books for Children: 3rd Edition by Eden Ross Lipson

• The Story Cure: An A-Z of Books to Keep Kids Happy, Healthy and Wise by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin

• The Barnes & Noble Guide to Children’s Books by Kaylee N. Davis

• Kathleen O’Dean’s Great Books For… series, which is out of print, so check your local library

I also have a Bookshop.org booklist, Resource books for raising readers, that has all of my recommended titles on this subject (the ones that are in print) in one place:

As always, if you have resources to add, please leave a comment!

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Read good books and take good care 😘
Sarah

P.S. All Bookshop.org links are affiliate ones — I receive a small commission if you make a purchase and trust me, this adds up, and I appreciate it.