LibGuides: YCIS Pudong Library: Featured books: ECE

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Librarian overseeing borrowing: Ms Kelly Lai, kelly.lai@ycis.com

Teacher Librarian: Ms Tania Jordan, tania.jordan@ycis.com

ECE Recommendations- Literacy Themed

The first building block needed to read in English is phonetic awareness. That is, an understanding of the sounds that letters and letter combinations, make.

One of the best ways to build this letter-sound recognition in children, is to read fun alphabet books together. Classics in this type of picture book include Bill Martin’s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Louis Ehlert’s Eating the Alphabet and Dr. Seuss’s ABC book.

Each of these is brightly coloured with fun, lively illustrations. The written words are rhythmical and patterned. They are the type of books that can be enjoyed again and again, while implanting the fundamentals of the English language in your child. They are such fun books that your child won’t even know they’re learning!
Besides these types of unique alphabet books, there are plenty of picture dictionaries and first word books that are available, that are also useful in introducing young children to the English language. Again, the use of cute, colourful illustrations makes the books attractive to young children and often help with the memorisation of words more than a focus on their sounds. Both types of books can be considered important building blocks in learning English.

Todd Parr’s picture books send out positive messages to children about themselves and the world around them.

The brightly coloured, simply-drawn pictures are eye-catching and really bring the author’s message to life. Titles include ‘The Family Book’ and ‘The Earth Book’ remind us of the value of our family and our cherished earth. The books convey an attitude of tolerance and respect for one another.

The books are available in the libraries and are suitable for all children, especially K2 to Year 1, and come highly recommended.

ECE Recommendations- Holidays Themed

As we get closer to the winter break, we also get closer to spending time with our family to mark special celebrations. Many of us will be celebrating Christmas and the calendar New Year, shortly followed by the celebration of Chinese New Year.

Depending on our family traditions, we will all have different ways to celebrate these special holidays. Also based on our cultural heritage, we may be celebrating other special dates through the year.

The following books in English are available in the ECE library and are a small selection of recommended books to share with our children to celebrate some of the many different festivities that our school community marks.

The Rookie Read-About Holidays series, is a simple and informative series meant for young children. The books present a cultural celebration and let children know clearly who celebrates it, when and why. The books promote cross-cultural understanding among young children and are a very useful tool for parents wanting to teach their children about other traditions around the world.

The Usborne Young Reading series is an excellent reading choice for parents wanting to share stories with their children. In this case, the title in the series called Diwali, is a great choice for parents wanting to introduce their children to the Indian festival of the same name.

Turning to Christmas, the heart-warming picture book The Best Christmas Ever! is a story that all ECE children should enjoy. The main mouse character is busy getting ready for a perfect Christmas feast for her friends, but because of her generosity, ends up with nothing at home to offer. Of course, Christmas will be saved when her forest friends appear with gifts to share.

For slightly older ECE children ready for a more realistic story, the picture book Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto, is a popular choice. It includes Latino Christmas traditions as a family come together to celebrate the holiday. The story is also an opportunity to talk about our behaviour choices, as the main character learns a lesson from not being honest.

Moving onto Chinese New Year, two colourful and simple choices for young readers, are Bringing In the New Year by Grace Lin and Happy Chinese New Year, Kai Lan, based on a Nickelodeon cartoon.

Grace Lin is a well-known American Chinese author of many picture books as well as chapter books for older readers. Her book is a very simply told description of traditional Chinese New Year activities, with bright and cheery pictures.

The story of Kai Lan celebrating Chinese New Year, is a good choice for children who are ready for a little more detail in a story. There is lots of lively dialogue between the cute animal characters as they celebrate the traditions of Chinese New Year.

We hope all students enjoy their holidays with their families and, of course, with a book! Happy, safe holidays!