Brain-Based Learning Activities 67 with colorful illustrations get your child’s interest? Does the story engage your child or hold his interest? Does the book have familiar objects, places, or people that children can relate to? Does it present new ideas that can expand thinking on subjects children have some familiarity with? Do the books discuss topics that support families’ moral beliefs? Do the books pro- mote prosocial messages? If the books excite you and make you want to share the stories enthusiastically with young children, chances are pretty good they’ll like it too. Make sure that young children have a choice of books that are not too heavy on text. Older children may prefer more text and fewer illustrations. Choose books that avoid stereotypes of people based on gender, age, ability, and race. Instead, look for and select books that realistically rep- resent all people, and especially look for books that represent the families in your program. We want children to be able to relate to books that have familiar objects, places, and people in them. But we also want them to learn about people, places, and objects that are not like them. Inviting books open up this new world to children and help them make new connections. And last but not least, the books you choose should be pleasurable to read over and over and over again. Remember practice makes ___? Answer: permanent. Right! SUGGESTED BOOKS—AGES BIRTH TO FOUR Arnold, Tedd. 2000. Parts. New York: Puffin Books. ———. 2003. More parts. New York: Puffin Books. Hennessy, B. G. 1992. Jake baked the cake. Pictures by Mary Morgan. New York: Puffin Books. Sierra, Judy, and Barney Salzberg. 2004. There’s a zoo in room 22. Orlando: Harcourt Books. SUGGESTED BOOKS—AGES FIVE TO EIGHT Cronin, Doreen. 2000. Click, clack, moo: Cows that type. Pictures by Betsy Lewin. New York: Simon & Schuster. ———. 2004. Duck for president. Illustrated by Betsy Lewin. New York: Simon & Schuster. Finchler, Judy. 2003. Testing Miss Malarkey. Illustrations by Kevin O’Malley. New York: Walker & Co. Thaler, Mike. 1998. The cafeteria lady from the Black Lagoon. Pictures by Jared Lee. New York: Scholastic. BBEL_final_interior.indd 67 2/16/10 3:46 PM