Summer is here! And while kids may rejoice at the prospect of sleeping in, exploring the beach, or going on a trip, the reality for parents is that changes in school and child care routines can take a toll. Lazy days are often few and far between for caregivers who are ever on call to shepherd the health, safety, and development of little ones.
That’s why I’ve compiled a digital Summer Survival Kit for parents and caregivers who pre-order my book, Reading for Our Lives: A Literacy Action Plan from Birth to Six, forthcoming from Avery/Penguin Random House in July.
This bonus is available exclusively to people who pre-order the book. You’ll also get early access to a bunch of other useful resources and freebies for raising readers, designed to support the action plan outlined in the book. Once you order your copy, complete the form below to get instant access to the freebies.
The Summer Survival Kit was designed to make it easier to ride the waves with your kids this summer. It contains a curated digital library of tips and summer activities for kids—along with cheat sheets and checklists of what you’ll need to plan a fun, easy, cheap, and educational summer. Inside you’ll find:
- Recommendations of music, audio stories, and podcasts to navigate your days
- Conversation prompts to encourage the back-and-forth exchanges kids need to build brain connections, vocabulary, and knowledge
- A list of simple, inexpensive, easy-to-find, reusable, and adaptable tools to enrich daily life and learning
- A roundup of board games that are as educational as they are fun
- A bucket list of activities to make the most of your summer
I hope these activities bring you and your family joy as you grow and learn together!
Preorder Receipt
More about Reading for Our Lives
When my daughter went off to school, I was shocked to discover that a good education in America is a long shot, in ways that few parents fully appreciate. Our current approach to literacy offers too little, too late, and attempting to play catch-up when kids get to kindergarten can no longer be our default strategy. The brain architecture for reading develops rapidly during infancy, and early language experiences are critical to building it. That means parents’ work as children’s first teachers begins from day one too—and we need deeper knowledge to play our positions.
Reading for Our Lives challenges the bath-book-bed mantra and the idea that reading aloud to our kids is enough to ensure school readiness. Instead, it gives parents easy, immediate, and accessible ways to nurture language and literacy development from the start. Through personal stories, historical accounts, scholarly research, and practical tips, this book presents the life-and-death urgency of reading, investigates inequity in its achievement, and illuminates a path to a true, transformative education for all.
In the book, you’ll find:
- A clear roadmap. Find out what to expect and focus on at each stage and age, from infancy to early elementary.
- An understanding of foundational literacy skills. Learn how basic skills affect long-term success, and how to introduce and strengthen them with warmth and compassion.
- Easy action items. Seamlessly add literacy-rich habits into your daily family life with no special tools, apps, or materials required.
- Evidence-supported tactics. Discover routines, conversation starters, activities, and more that help make regular days with small kids more educational and enjoyable.
Praise for Reading for Our Lives
I have rarely had a more visceral reaction to a book than I had in reading Maya Smart’s Reading for Our Lives: I was, in turn, frightened, angered, reassured, and finally, inspired. I was frightened because I thought back on all the things I missed about reading while raising my kids that she expertly details here. I was angry because she offers an expert roadmap for navigating the tough terrain of literacy for our children. And I was inspired because her book is so eloquent and easy to understand as she leads us in the crucial work of providing our children their best futures because they are truly literate. This is a brilliant, timely and life-changing book that is worth far more to you and your children than what it costs to read Maya Smart’s illuminating words and soak in her transformative wisdom.
Michael Eric Dyson, co-author of Unequal: A Story of America
An amazing book for perhaps the most important job parents have: getting our kids to love to read.
Ryan Holiday, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Daily Stoic, The Obstacle Is the Way, and Ego Is the Enemy
A must-read for any parent! This exceptional book walks you through not only the why of reading to your child but the way. The scientifically grounded, step-by-step insights outlined here can heighten both your and your child’s joy at learning one of life’s most important skills: reading.
Barbara Oakley, author of A Mind for Numbers
Reading for Our Lives is the book to turn to when nurturing critical readers. Like reading, Smart’s book is for our children’s lives. Don’t miss out, because our kids must not miss out on the life-giving power of reading.
Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist
I anticipate a revolution of reading readiness once parents get their hands on this book! In Reading for Our Lives, Maya Smart puts her faith in parents as the key participants in leading our youngest learners into literacy. No more tears over tedious workbooks or relentless drilling. Instead, Smart offers countless, actionable tips and practices to be used at home. Smart rightly claims that learning to read is of urgent, liberating importance for today’s children. Preparing them at home so that they are equipped for school is a gift any parent can easily give their children, with Smart’s book in hand. I’ll be recommending Reading for Our Lives for years to come. It’s the best book about learning to read I’ve ever read!
Julie Bogart, creator and founder of Brave Writer, author of The Brave Learner and Raising Critical Thinkers
Wondering how to make your child smarter (and if that’s even possible)? Before you splurge on dubious brain-boosting toys, games, and videos, it might be worth focusing your attention a little closer to home. And by that, we mean your parenting style.
Research shows that there is a strong association between parenting styles and cognitive development. And more specifically, that practicing responsive parenting—understanding your child’s emotional and physical needs, and reacting to them appropriately and consistently—can have a significant impact on intelligence, as well as emotional and physical wellbeing.
The World Health Organization summarized the impact that studies found from this kind of parenting: “Maternal responsiveness in early childhood was associated with social competence and fewer behavioral problems at three years; increased intelligence quotient (IQ) and cognitive growth at four-and-a-half years; school achievement at seven years; as well as higher IQ and self-esteem, and fewer behavioral and emotional problems at age 12.”
Sounds good, right? But what exactly is responsive parenting and how do we do it? Which specific actions have scientists highlighted as fostering intelligence and why? Let’s take a look at six simple ideas you can try today.
Practice Responsive Parenting!
Start From Birth
Don’t wait until your child has reached a particular age or milestone before tuning into them and responding to them in kind. One study showed that mothers’ sensitive behavior towards and language with their five-month old babies—long before infants can speak words—had a positive ripple effect on those children’s core language skills up to four years later. And kids who start school with strong verbal skills do better in their academic and social-emotional growth later.
Act Lovingly
Parents who consistently behave affectionately and emotionally support their children will nurture their kids’ developing self-regulation skills and increase the chances of them forming a secure attachment bond. What happens when a young child feels like mom and dad are a safe home base? They develop not only an increased ability to communicate their thoughts and needs, but also a greater interest and willingness to explore the world, leading to more learning.
Support Focus and Problem-Solving
Young attention spans develop gradually. And one way to help kids focus is to structure activities and play in ways that help them build up to a more active or independent role in time. That could mean engaging together in a puzzle, for example, and gently helping your child maintain focus by talking through problem-solving together, rather than redirecting or distracting them as soon as frustration crops up. The idea is that eventually your child will be able to regulate their behavior and figure things out for themselves. According to the same study that highlighted the importance of loving parenting, infants who had responsive mothers showed greater problem-solving skills than those who didn’t.
Make Plenty of Time and Space for Play
Play is crucial for learning and brain development, and it’s linked with improved attention, language and math skills, problem-solving, and reasoning. Young children with responsive parents can be free and supported to engage with play more deeply, and so display more complex play skills than those without. Honoring your child’s need for play and your role within that is a great way to foster their cognitive and emotional skills for years to come. This can look like responding positively to their play initiatives (for example, joining their make-believe games), standing by as a nurturing observer or engaged commentator as they play, or helping them explore or regulate their emotions as they play.
Encourage Early Remembering
Being able to talk about the past is a key language milestone, and it’s also an important achievement in children’s communicative and cognitive development. How can parents nurture the development of this skill? Ask questions! One study showed that responsive mothers who frequently asked their toddlers about past events could help in boosting short and long-term recollection and building autobiographical memory. You can ask your little ones about their earliest memories or about past experiences, and you can model recollections by telling stories of your own!
Take Turns In ‘Conversation’
When it comes to the role of parents in cognitive development, positive use of language and communication plays a key role, so it’s worth paying attention to how that looks in your family, especially in terms of your responsiveness.
In early talk with babies and kids, timely back-and-forth exchanges between a child and a grown-up, or vice-versa, are known as conversational turns. Simple yet powerful, they boost cognitive development, and are linked to increased connectivity between two key language areas of the brain and higher IQ in later childhood. Good to know: The “responses” in conversational turns don’t have to be recognizable words—that means a baby’s coos or a toddler’s made-up lingo all count, as long as the caretaker responds to those vocalizations within five seconds.
Parents eager to get conversation flowing with their little ones can try simple tactics like turning daily routines and activities into opportunities for chatting, making screen-time more interactive by talking about what’s happening on-screen, and avoiding interruptions. Our tips for engaging kids during read-alouds work well for engaging small kids in conversation during non-reading situations, too. And check out our Everyday Literacy collection of activities for ideas of fun ways to mix print awareness and pre-reading or reading skills into everyday life, as well.
And those who want to take conversations with infants to a deeper level can use relevant and descriptive language, back up spoken words with physical gestures, and modify their responses in line with their child’s developing skills. For example, stick to very simple language for the youngest babies and incorporate more complex turns of phrase or questions as their vocabulary and skills grow.
Have a brain-boosting, responsive parenting tip to share? We’d love to hear it!
Welcome to the July edition of Smart Story Time!
Keeping new books in the mix keeps reading time fresh for your child, as well as continually exposing them to new subjects and vocabulary. That’s why we curate some of our best recommendations for diverse kids’ books around timely topics each month. We hope this inspires you to find some awesome new-to-you reads for your child at your local library or independent bookstore.
Here are some topics to delve into with your child this month:
Picture Books for Fourth of July
For Independence Day, contributor and early childhood educator Chrysta Naron recommends a selection of wonderful picture books that explore the beauty and diversity of America.
From We the Kids, which explains the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, to artist Faith Ringgold’s We Came to America, this list shares impactful kids’ titles to help you and your child celebrate, contemplate, and converse about this nation.
Then extend the learning and the bonding by helping your child create their very own kids’ bill of rights. Bonus: We also have a firework literacy craft to help your child practice tricky words while making some cute Fourth of July-themed art.
Kids’ Books by & about Nelson Mandela
For parents seeking to teach their children about history through the true stories of people who’ve worked to shape it for the better, it’s hard to imagine a more inspiring subject than anti-apartheid activisit, South African president, and Nobel prize winner Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
Introduce your kids to this towering figure of modern history through three children’s books produced by Mandela himself and the Nelson Mandela Foundation. For younger readers and listeners, there’s a picture book adaptation of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography. For middle-schoolers and comic lovers, there’s a large-format graphic novel that recounts the story of Nelson Mandela and the country he served.
And for readers of any age who can appreciate a good fable, there’s a collection of 32 classic, and some newer, African folktales selected by Mandela—each accompanied by a whimsical, colorful illustration.
Picture Books about Birds & Nature
Take advantage of summer by pairing some books about the great outdoors with outings to explore it together with your child. (After all, spending time outside in natural green spaces provides major benefits for raising readers.)
To begin, try this bird walk activity for preschoolers created by birder and conservationist Susan Gadamus—you’ll find a number of recommended picture books at the end of the post.
Then, for more picture books about nature, take a look at writer Karen Williams’s list of picture books celebrating water and author Tulani Thomas’s favorite eco-friendly reads for kids.
Picture Books about Your Child’s Interests
MayaSmart.com is your one-stop-shop for raising a reader. Check out our other kids’ book lists and articles. In addition to bringing books into your reading time that tackle timely topics or important subjects, be sure to follow their interests, as well. If your kid loves science or animals—read about those topics. Following their interests keeps them engaged and helps you build a responsive relationship with your child.
We’ll be back next month with the next installment of Smart Story Time. Meanwhile, feel free to message me with requests for future posts, book recommendations, or just to say hi!
What are you reading with your child this month? Scroll down to connect on social media & let me know!
Welcome to the June edition of Smart Story Time!
Keeping new books in the mix keeps family reading time fresh for your child (and you), as well as introducing them to new subjects and vocabulary. That’s why we curate some of our best recommendations for diverse picture books around timely topics each month. We hope this inspires you to find some awesome new-to-you reads for your child at your local library or independent bookstore.
Here are some topics, plus recommended reads, to delve into with your child this month:
Picture Books for Father’s Day
Father’s Day is fast approaching! It’s a great moment to honor Dad—and all the special guys in your and your child’s life. This year, why not create a celebration of dads, uncles, and grandpas on your bookshelf?
The gift of a book is wonderful in and of itself, but the gift of time spent reading together is priceless. Check out this list of sweet picture books to read for Father’s Day and celebrate the men you care about. Bonus: Make a sweet DIY Father’s Day card with an acrostic poem.
Kids’ Books about Juneteeth
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 that word of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached enslaved Texans, two years and six months after President Abraham Lincoln issued it. On June 19, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in the state and announced the news, making Texas one of the last states to legally abolish slavery.
In 1980, Texas declared Juneteenth a statewide holiday and, thanks to the work of activists like Opal Lee, it recently became a federal holiday. To remember and celebrate the freedom the day commemorates, writer Courtney Runn compiled a list of inspiring and informative Juneteenth picture books to read with your children.
Picture Books for Pride Month
June is Pride month, a time to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community in all its wonderful uniqueness. It’s an opportunity for queer families to be seen and to share. It’s also a time to spark some valuable conversations with your children.
Early childhood educator Chrysta Naron has put together a list of some of her favorite joyful books with LGBTQ+ characters and stories for you to take a look at this month. Be prepared for giggles, touching conversations, and tons of rainbow color!
Books to Inspire (and Occupy) Your Kids All Summer
If your child’s on summer vacation, it’s worth investing some time early on to cement the reading habit and ensure that reading books takes pride of place among free-time activities. Read our tips for summer reading and our article about proven ways to motivate kids to read for suggestions on building and reinforcing the love of reading. These include sharing books your child loves, books their friends are into, and books they can enjoy independently.
On that last note, if your child isn’t reading yet, consider getting some quality wordless picture books from your library or bookshop. They’re good for building comprehension, storytelling, reading fluency, and all-around book love. And they’re also fabulous for keeping kids gainfully entertained, at home or on the road (as are audiobooks!).
If you’re hitting the road or getting together with relatives this summer, you’ll also want to check out our posts on building reading and writing into family travel, educational road trip games, and using books to set the scene for great visits with relatives. (We also have suggestions for fun summer activities that incorporate learning, to keep you and your little ones entertained around home!)
Picture Books about Your Child’s Interests
MayaSmart.com is your one-stop-shop for raising a reader. Check out our other kids’ book lists and articles. In addition to sharing books that tackle timely topics or important subjects, be sure to follow your child’s interests, as well. If your kid loves basketball or puppies—read about those topics. Following their interests keeps them engaged and helps you build a responsive relationship with your child.
We’ll be back next month with the next installment of Smart Story Time. Meanwhile, feel free to message me with requests for future posts, book recommendations, or just to say hi!
What are you reading with your child this month? Connect on social media & let me know!
With the excitement of March Madness in the air, it’s an opportunity to use some good basketball stories to get kids hooked on reading. If your child is into the game, why not check out some of these fun and inspiring tales of teamwork, perseverance, and thrilling last-second shots?
These children’s basketball books for March Madness will draw little fans into story time. So you and your mini hooper can grab a book, settle in, and let the fun continue long after the final buzzer!
Learning to accept and love themselves as they are is a journey for kids—and it can be a beautiful journey that each child experiences in their own unique way. Whether it’s curls, coils, waves, straight locks, or no locks, embracing their natural hair is a celebration of identity and self-love. Meanwhile, choosing, changing, or styling their hair can also be a form of self-expression and joy. And parents can affirm all of this hair love through picture books that reflect the joy and pride to be found in every strand.
This post shares some carefully selected hair love picture books that explore all types of hair and ‘dos to help kids accept themselves. These books will delight your children, while helping build and reinforce a positive self-image. Let’s dive into these vibrant stories that encourage little readers to love and embrace their wonderful natural or chosen hair.
What’s that on your bookshelf? It’s a story… It’s an adventure… It’s a superhero book!
From their first appearances in comic books to the blockbuster films featuring them every summer, kids have loved superheroes. They represent so much that children cherish—good triumphing over evil, ordinary people secretly being extraordinary, and really cool costumes. Children live in a world where they have very little power. They have to go where adults tell them, do what adults ask, wear what adults buy them, and eat what adults cook. They can be picked on by older siblings or teased at school. They’re often not quite strong enough or old enough to help others in large-scale ways. So, for kids, superheroes can epitomize what they wish for and wish to be.
Because of their appeal, superhero children’s books are a natural way to draw your child into books and reading (or reading more). Even better, you can select from a myriad of children’s books that feature superheroes whose true superpowers are traits your child already possesses or you would like to help them develop. Traits like patience, bravery, kindness, and empathy. After all, what’s better than seeing a superhero fly? Seeing a superhero that’s just like you. So cuddle your caped crusaders and enjoy one of these amazing superhero picture books for preschoolers and beyond!
If you know someone with an aspiring superhero at home, please share this article!
This Diwali, ignite your child’s imagination and welcome them into a world of colors, traditions, and togetherness through a selection of enchanting picture books about Diwali. To get you started, we’ve compiled a selection of high-quality Diwali children’s books, which blend the magic of storytelling with valuable cultural exploration.
For those unfamiliar with it, Diwali is a vibrant holiday celebrated in Southeast Asian countries like India and Bangladesh, as well as by Hindu, Jain, and Sikh families around the world. Also known as the Festival of Lights, it marks the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. During Diwali, families come together to light oil lamps (diyas), exchange gifts, enjoy festive meals, and make colorful art (rangoli).
If you celebrate, imagine your child’s delight as they discover characters and stories that reflect their own heritage and traditions. It’s like finding a treasure trove of relatable experiences and celebrations, all within the colorful pages of a book. And for little explorers who may not be familiar with Diwali, these stories offer a gateway into a world of new customs and festivities. So snuggle up and enjoy these captivating tales about the Festival of Lights.
Want more book recommendations? Check out our curated reading lists!
Female athletes have finally been getting more notice, from movements for equal pay to fans following their achievements. And female soccer players, including the women of U.S. soccer, have been leaders among them.
When we appreciate both women’s and men’s professional sports, we teach our children to value them and support all our kids to dream big—plus, we gain double the fun in terms of games and events to watch. For little soccer players and budding fans of the stars in the Women’s World Cup, picture books about female soccer players are a great fit. These empowering books not only inspire young minds but also foster a deep appreciation for the achievements and determination of women in the world of soccer.
So, whether you have a young soccer aficionado, a future champion in the making, or simply a child that loves great stories, this curated book list is designed to captivate their imaginations and leave a lasting impression. Use these books to celebrate the achievements of female athletes and, hopefully, create a generation of children who believe that they, too, can achieve greatness on and off the field.
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Exposing children to poetry is a fun and impactful way to help them develop into readers. It helps them grasp concepts such as rhyming, alliteration, word families, and more—building their awareness of the sounds that make up words. Poetry can help children develop a love for language, creativity, and self-expression, too.
When it comes to children’s poetry, parents and teachers often reach for classic standbys, from Mother Goose to Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky. These are fun, inventive, and high-quality, but they’re not particularly varied. Just as diversity matters when choosing fiction and nonfiction picture books, it’s also important to seek out diverse poetic voices for our children’s bookshelves.
Black authors have made significant and unique contributions to the world of children’s poetry. These contributions include works that celebrate the beauty of black culture, history, and identity. Children’s poems by black poets allow black children to see themselves centered, celebrated, and heard. And they can support other children to develop empathy, understanding, and appreciation for diversity.
Fall in love with these 10 fabulous children’s poems by black poets and watch your child fall in love, too.
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