How to Make “Easy Readers”

My two year old daughter loves books, and tries to read them to me. It’s adorable, and funny, and exciting that she is so into it. My son however, is less interested in reading. He’ll let me read to him at bed time, but at other times throughout the day, he’d rather be doing anything else. Which is fine because he’s three and he’s a boy who loves to play.

I’ve tried a lot of different ways to encourage him to an enjoyment of reading and being read to, but one thing I’ve tried most recently is making “Easy Readers.” “Easy Readers” is exactly what it sounds like. Books that are very easy for young readers to read.

The first set of easy readers I made was with the words “I Like”

I asked my son to tell me a few things that he liked, and when he was done, I made a booklet out of it.

At first, he didn’t really care for it, but once he realized it was all about him and had simple words, he really enjoyed them.

I don’t have any long-term results here, but my hope is to make several more “Easy Readers” and slowly build his confidence and enjoyment in reading and books overall.

How to Make an Easy Reader:

You will need one piece of construction paper, and 2-4 sheets of computer paper.
Cut all your paper in half (hamburger way), and line up your cut paper. Construction paper on the bottom, computer paper on top.
Fold all your paper in half to make a booklet and staple in the middle.
Now, decide what your book will be about! Here is a list of fun sentence starters for your book:

I am

I like

We are

I love

I can

*You can also make books all about colors using sentences like…

The ___________ is red.

…And on each page brainstorming together a new picture that is red. Actually, I love this idea for my two-year-old who just hasn’t quite gotten her colors yet.

5. Once you’ve decided what your book will be about, write your simple sentence on each page with a picture to match! Have your child color it.