1,000 Books Before Kindergarten

Why 1,000 books? A recent study published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics found that kids whose parents read them five books a day start kindergarten having heard more than a million more words than children whose parents don’t read to them. Promote life-long reading habits!

Receive a free, brand new book to keep after every 100 books or activities.

Enrollment can begin at any time and for any child not yet in kindergarten.

Every Book or activity Counts: Even if your child wants to hear the same book, or complete the same activity again and again, you can count it each time. You can also count the books your child hears in story time. Every time a book is read to your child it counts.

Read at your own pace. Each time you complete 100 books, bring your reading record to the library to earn a book. Get a new reading record for your next 100 books.

By reading aloud with your child, they:

• Develop background knowledge about a variety of topics
• Build vocabulary
• Become familiar with rich language patterns
• Develop familiarity with story structure
• Acquire familiarity with reading
• Identify reading as a pleasurable activity

Singing, rhyming, storytelling, drawing and playing with your children builds their literacy skills.

One thousand books may seem like a lot, but if you read three books a night, you could reach your goal in just one year! Ask your library staff for help with book suggestions!