Inspiring Your Children to Love Reading with Devon Hamilton of Reading with the Littles

In this episode, Susan and Whittney talk to Devon Hamilton of Reading with the Littles about inspiring a love of reading in your children. 

Devon’s tips for selecting good books for your children: 

1. Take your time while perusing
2. Look at the cover of the book
3. Look at the subject of the book
4. How many words are on each page?
5. How many pages are there?
6. Look at the layout of the book
7. Ask yourself if the book is accessible to your child

Links from this episode: 

• Reading with the Littles Facebook page 
• Devon’s local library, Harford County Public Library in Harford County, MD 
• The original American Girl book series 
• The complete list of Roald Dahl books
• The complete 8-book Ramona series by Beverly Cleary
• The Little House on the Prairie Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Google Map street view of the former location of the Monroe County Public Library in Stroudsburg, PA (the  library “mansion” of Susan's  & Devon’s childhoods) 
• Yertle the Turtle, the Monroe County Public library mascot (Yes, Yertle is STILL alive!) 
• Hoopla
• Overdrive
• Epic Reading, a digital library for kids 
• Little Free Library, a nonprofit organization that increases book access for all through a network of volunteer-led free libraries 
• Books on YouTube:  (Search “books,” “children’s book,” or search specific titles)
• Devon refers to the Mary Poppins’ Story Hour podcast, but the podcast is actually called Julie’s Library, and stars Julie Andrews (who starred in Mary Poppins in 1964) and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton reading their favorite children’s books. 
• Storyonline, a SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Daytime Emmy-nominated, story website that features celebrated actors reading their favorite children’s books. 

Additional multi-cultural, multilingual book resources that Susan mentioned she would share: 

• Unite for Literacy has developed projects to build home libraries and support families to develop a daily habit of reading. 
• The Spanish Experiment features well-known children's stories translated into Spanish and spoken by a native Spanish speaker. 

Website: susanandwhittney.buzzsprout.com
Instagram: @susanandwhittney
Facebook: The Conversation with Susan and Whittney