Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Philadelphia, PA

I was an early reader. I taught myself how to read when I was four (with some help from my mom and my grandmother, a former 1st grade teacher), and by the time I hit first grade I was devouring chapter books (a detail that made it tough on my teachers, I'm afraid). I still enjoy reading voraciously and choose books that help me to dive into a world completely and utterly.

I hope, desperately, to give this ability to my daughter. I started reading books to her as soon as she could focus her eyes on the page. We have books everywhere, and in fact books are the only toys she can reach without help in our house. I read in front of her all the time, as does my husband.

She does "read" books, but mostly she enjoys pointing at the pictures and telling you what they are (hey, she's two and a half! what do you expect?). She will sit with a book on her own, however, and that makes me incredibly happy. We read books together quite frequently, and I'm hoping by the time she's three to start reading longer books to her as she's going to bed, continuing a family practice of reading a chapter a night (I loved doing that with my mom).

We're enjoying focusing on letters and the alphabet these days (more in my next post about that) and I seize every single opportunity to discuss letters with her; yesterday we were getting in the car and she started to read the letters on the side of the car next to us (T*A*H*O*E; they were BIG letters). This brings me immeasurable joy.

Her favorite book right now is First 100 Words by Bright Baby; she can identify 95% of the objects in the book correctly (although she can identify the rest, she just doesn't agree with the book's classification). She still isn't great about sitting still and listening to books being read, but I think that will come soon. I can't wait to see what other books are out there for her to love!