Last night I had a ‘sleepover’ with my grandson Brayden. Like most four year olds, Brayden loves to read books, or at this stage, have books read to him. And one of his favorite parts of our ‘sleepovers’ is getting jammies on and climbing into bed with a very big stack of books.

Brayden and I head to the library every few weeks. He plays while I scour the shelves looking for just the right books. I must admit I’m a book snob. As an artist it used to be about the quality of illustration but after years of experience reading to my own kids, and researching the development of language and visual skills, I’ve become extremely sensitive to much more then the art.

Right now, both Brayden and I are quite smitten with Mr. Putter and Tabby and Elephant and Piggie books.

There are at least a dozen Mr. Putter and Tabby books, written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Arthur Howard. The stories are about the everyday adventures of Mr. Putter and his cat Tabby and the language is perfect for reading to young children. There are just the right amount of words on the page, and age appropriate vocabulary, while still including concepts and words to help expand a young vocabulary.  The illustrations are well matched to the story and are designed to increase the readers understanding, which is essential to the development of crucial visual skills.

Our other favorite series right now are Elephant and Piggie books, written by Mo Willems. The series follow Gerald and Piggie on everyday adventures that children can relate to. The characters are best friends and the stories are simple, fun, full of emotion and full of wisdom on what it means to be a good friend.

Enjoy curling up and reading with your child, or brew a cup of tea and treat yourself to an afternoon of reading. I encourage you to add these series to your preschoolers book list.  Then share with us what  your preschool child’s favorite books.

What is your child’s learning style?  There are three basic learning styles; visual, tactile, and auditory.  Take the test and get immediate results: Is your child a visual learner? 

Bette Fetter Founder and CEO of Young Rembrandts and Author of Being Visual [email protected] Follow Bette on Twitter