Reading Rockets offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Our reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in helping struggling readers build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.
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For Librarians

Resources developed in partnership with: The American Library Association (ALA)

 
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
Reading tips for parents
Family literacy bags: rocks, dinosaurs, music and more
Fresh content for your website!

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

From food to folktales, discover the rich culture, humor, and traditions of Japan, Korea, China, Hawaii, and more.

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Reading tips for parents

These tip sheets are ready to print and share with the families in your community. Available in English and 10 other languages.

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Family literacy bags: rocks, dinosaurs, music and more

Share these parent-child activity guides centered around paired fiction and nonfiction books.

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Fresh content for your website!

Our widgets deliver fresh content to your library website every day. Choose from Book of the Day, Books & Authors, Daily Lit Quiz and more.

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Our Top 12 resources for librarians

  1. More than 80 video interviews with award-winning authors and illustrators like Katherine Paterson, Jerry Pinkney, Walter Dean Myers, Deborah Heiligman, Linda Sue Park, and Mo Willems.
  2. Our author study toolkit, a roadmap for taking kids on a journey of discovery about a favorite author or illustrator.
  3. Our Daily Lit Quiz: play for fun or for a chance to win an Amazon gift card!
  4. Dozens of themed booklists, carefully chosen by Maria Salvadore, a 2010 Newbery committee member and our own children's literature expert. (And don't miss Maria's blog, Page by Page.)
  5. Our seasonal booklists, The Big Summer Read and the Holiday Gift Guide: wonderful fiction, nonfiction, and audiobooks selected for different age groups.
  6. Hundreds of research-based articles about supporting young readers (especially kids who struggle), motivating reluctant readers, how to do effective read alouds, and much more.
  7. The librarian toolkit (see below), developed in collaboration with ALSC and AASL. These multimedia resources make it easy for librarians to offer community forums and workshops for parents, teachers, and caregivers on how to support children's reading achievement.
  8. Reading tips for parents in 11 languages (infants to grade 3). The PDFs are ready to print and share with the families in your community.
  9. Our award-winning PBS series Launching Young Readers, available online to watch now or later on your iPod.
  10. Our themed family literacy bags that encourage hands-on fun centered around paired fiction and nonfiction.
  11. Colorful download-and-print door hangers that proudly proclaim "Warning: reading rocket in orbit!" (in English and Spanish).
  12. A lively literacy calendar, with resources for events like Read Across America, D.E.A.R., National Poetry Month, and El día de los niños/El día de los libros.

Toolkit for librarians

This free toolkit, developed by Reading Rockets and the Association for Library Services to Children and the Association of School Librarians of the American Library Association, contains resources to make it easy for librarians to offer community forums, discussions, and workshops for parents, teachers, and caregivers on how to support children's reading achievement.

Download toolkit (1.6 MB PDF) >

Included in the kit are video modules that show what works in teaching and encouraging kids to become readers. This toolkit can also be purchased from the Reading Rockets store.

Toolkit video modules

The following videos are referenced within the toolkit.


Video Modules 1-4: In the Classroom

Video Module 5: A Writer's Secret
This module contains five video clips, each featuring a different children's author.

Recommended Use: These video clips can be used for in-service training or other workshops for older children, teachers, caregivers, parents, and other adults interested in children's literature.

 
A welcoming library

A welcoming library video icon

In this segment from Becoming Bilingual, part of our PBS Launching Young Readers series, join librarian Laura Kleinmann and students from the Oyster Bilingual School library. Watch video clip >

See also

Reading Rockets Blogs

Page by Page

Maria Salvadore
Blogs about Reading: Page by Page

Maria, our children's literature expert, explores the best ways to use kids' books at home and inside the classroom.

 

Daily Lit Quiz

How does his great grandson take Grandpa Green down memory lane?

Walking quickly
Through his well-tended garden
By the hand

Every day you get an answer right, you'll be entered into our monthly drawing for a $20 gift certificate to Amazon.com!

Widgets

Featuring our themed booklists and exclusive video interviews with top children's book authors and illustrators this widget will be sure to help you find the books that unlock the love of reading in the children you care about.

Daily recommedended picture books selected by Maria Salvadore, our children's literature expert.