Pre-emergent books are for the brand new reader. These books contain large print, few words per page and large pictures. Many pre-emergent readers include a list of the high-frequency words used in the books.

Children at a pre-emergent reading level will:

• Be aware that text should be read from left to right and from the top of the page to the bottom
• Know that printed words have meaning
• Use pictures as clues to help decode the words
• Point out sight words to your child as you read.
• Reread books over and over again (This encourages comprehension, retelling and word recognition)
• Play with sight words! Try sight word bingo or memory games to increase your child’s awareness of sight words

Activities to do at home:

• Visit the library and pick out books to read together. Talk about the concepts of print; author, illustrator, cover, back, words vs. pictures, reading left to right, return sweep (when you finish a line of reading return to the beginning of the next line). Have your child predict what the book might be about based on the cover.
• Guide your child to connect a book to real world experiences. If you are reading a book about the zoo, recall a recent trip to the zoo. What did you see? Whom did you go with? This skill helps children build a connection to stories as well as recall and retell events.
• Check out an information book. Informational books provide facts about a specific topic. These books provide accurate and easily understood information. Before reading, discuss what you would like to learn about that topic.

Pre-emergent Easy Readers at the West Bloomfield Township Public Library are identified by a white spine label. Each label has a letter of the alphabet, indicating the first letter of the author's last name.