8 Children’s Literature in Action EMERGENT LITERACY What do we know about how children develop as literate beings? Experts like Sulzby and Teale (1996) coined the term “emergent literacy” to describe the evolving way that children acquire language skills. It’s not as if they are gurgling babies one day and fluent readers the next. Recent brain research has shown that infants are learning from the moment they are born (and some say before they’re born) children are listening, learning, and developing lan- guage. They are not always able to communicate their thoughts to us, but they are still doing a lot of thinking! Some early childhood experts even advocate using “baby sign language” as an intermediate step in communicating with children before their verbal vocabulary is fully developed. Public librarians have been particularly active in reaching out to parents and families and their littlest ones, leading regular storytimes since the 1930s. In fact, the public library sector has long been a source of parent and family support with storytimes, lapsit programs, toddler activities, and other orga- nized opportunities for promoting children’s literature. In recent years, the Public Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children have collaborated to create the “Every Child Ready to Read @ your library® Project,” complete with training opportunities for librarians (see http://​every childreadytoread​ .or g). In addition, the current “Born to Read: How to Raise a Reader” project provides brochures and materials to share with families to provide guidance in early literacy development (see http://​ www​ .ala​ .or g​ /alsc​ /issuesadv​ /borntoread). They remind us that the essential building blocks of reading skills include three components: developing oral language skills and phonological awareness (or knowing sounds and words), developing print awareness and letter knowledge (or knowing the alphabet and what it rep- resents), and having the motivation to learn and some experience and expo- sure to books and stories. School librarians can help preschoolers make the adjustment to school easier by making an appearance at storytimes at the nearest public library, even volunteering when possible, thus becoming a familiar face to the parents and children in the area. Don Holdaway in The Foundations of Literacy (1984, p. 52) claims that children with early literacy experience have developed certain expectations of printed text and that this serves as a motivational factor. He observes, “They come to print with expectations, not only that they will succeed in unlock- ing its mysteries, but also that the mysteries are worth unlocking.” Kathleen Odean (2003) reminds us that parents can promote this development through the old-fashioned ­ practice of reading aloud to their children, but it works best if it isn’t approached as an educational exercise. Parents have been known to have children repeat each word after them as a device to teach reading. Such a tedious approach is more likely to squash enthusiasm for books than to promote learning. They should be encouraged to simply enjoy the books together all the aspects of “reading readiness,” such as learning vocabulary and becoming familiar with books, will follow naturally. Megan Dowd Lambert (2015) recommends a “Whole Book” approach to reading aloud WITH children by guiding them in “thinking with their eyes” and talking about all aspects of
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