The Best Books, Games, and Activities to Help Kids Learn to Read
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I’m an early childhood literacy and learning specialist, and the question I’m asked most by parents of young children is how they can raise a strong reader? It’s an important question to ask, particularly at this moment in time: Over the past few years, reading instruction in the U.S. has undergone a radical shift to embrace the science of reading, but application has been uneven and inconsistent in school districts across the country. That makes it more crucial than ever for families to understandhowchildren learn to read — through implicit exposure at home and in child-care settings, and through explicit teaching in elementary school.
You’ve heard it before, but it bears repeating: At home,reading to your child every dayis the single most important thing you can do. Shared reading between parents and children is regarded by researchers as one of the most beneficial activities during early childhood, with many experts believing it lays the groundwork for stronger language and literacy skills down the road. And to that end, below you’ll find many book recommendations across multiple categories —board books,picture books, books that rhyme, and more — that I can vouch for as both a teacher and a parent.
But of course, many families are curious to know whatelsethey can do to support their child’s burgeoning literacy skills. Most children would prefer that their family be playmates, not teachers. My recommendations generally tend to steer clear of workbooks and more classroomlike tools and instead focus on more natural, play-based opportunities to develop literacy skills.
Here, I’ve listed all the things I recommend doing to help promote language and reading development at home.
Play games that encourage language development
There are many games that build language skills through rhyming, word association, turn-taking, listening comprehension, and expressive language development. For younger kids, choose games that do not require reading and use visuals instead. Here are a several that specifically work on language development and come highly recommended by many speech and language therapists. And even though it’s not a “game” in the technical sense, you can and should rely on the power of good old make-believe, which encourages children to use more complex vocabulary, longer sentences, and more varied grammar than in almost any other activity.
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EeBoo’s Indoor Scavenger Hunt has kids find household objects matching specific attributes (color, texture, sound, number, etc.), building descriptive vocabulary and category-based language skills as they search for and explain their choices.
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InWord on the Street Junior, players brainstorm a word that fits a category, then spell it letter by letter, moving tiles closer to their team’s side before time runs out — and building vocabulary, spelling, and quick word-retrieval skills in the process.
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Zingo!
This game is a go-to in many preschools because it combines early language skills with fast-paced matching that builds expressive language and vocabulary.
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Don’t Say It!sharpens vocabulary and verbal reasoning by challenging players to describe a word without using its most obvious related terms, forcing creative, off-the-cuff language substitution.
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Charadesis a big hit in my house and it’s excellent at building expressive language and vocabulary. For children who aren’t yet reading, make sure you choose a set like this one that provides visuals.
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Rhyming builds phonological awareness in young children and is a strong predictor as later success in reading.
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This is another one I always have in my classrooms. Children wear a picture of an animal on their forehead and must ask open-ended questions, employing expressive language, as well as categorizing and reasoning skills, to figure out the animal.
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This is one of the games I carry in my bag when we go on tripsor to restaurants: a pack of cards with an assortment of engaging illustrations for children to create stories and enhance their expressive language skills. (Ask questions and encourage them to expand on their stories to get the most out of it.)
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Lion in My Wayis a sweet game for young children that emphasizes cooperative problem-solving and imaginative thinking.
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There are a few variations of this game, where children are given visual elements to create a story as they play. Another excellent tool for growing language skills.
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As you can see, there’s a theme here: Get children talking — and explaining their thinking. Here’s another classic way to do just that (but, of course, you don’t necessarily need a game for this).
Imaginary play checks off every box. When children areplaying pretend, they narrate, negotiate, explain, and describe, all of which build oral language skills. Usually children need very little to dive deep into their world of imaginative play, but here are a few things that might enhance it, depending on your child’s interests:
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If your child is between 3 and 5 years old, consider books, games, and toys that explicitly help build reading skills
Around age 5, children need to begin learning “the code,” meaning the systematic relationship between letters and the sounds they make. This is what makes reading possible. Unlike spoken language, which children absorb naturally, reading must be explicitly taught. Research on this is clear: Children need direct, structured instruction in phonics to become successful readers. Below are a few joyful ways to build skills and confidence in your beginning reader — likely between ages 3 and 6, depending on the child. It’s important to note that when you introduce and talk about letters with your child, that you continually reinforce the letter sound and not just the letter name (e.g.,Bmakes the /b/ sound, like in the wordbat).
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This is a tool that I always have on hand for young readers — and often gift to my friends’ children. It’s perfect for kids who are just beginning to sound out words.
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Another great tool for children who are starting to sound out and blend words.
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This is a really fun and engaging series ofbooks for beginner readersthat I worked on with two other educators; it’s also for children just beginning to sound out words. Written with the science of reading in mind, it has the heft and feel of a chapter book.
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It’s important for children in pre-kindergarten to begin learning the names of letters (and, once they’re in kindergarten, the sounds that each letter makes). Incorporating letters into games is a great way of reinforcing those skills.
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For the fridge, for the easel, for a dry-erase board. Another natural opportunity to build letter identification and letter-sound skills.Here is another set of nice ones.
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If you’d like to teach your children letter names and sounds through cards, these are a very fancy set! I also think Heggerty (a curriculum company)makes great ones, orhere’s a more affordable set that is also quite sweet.
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As children begin to read, they’ll learn about syllables. This is how they’ll decode multisyllabic words. This is a cute and silly game to get children thinking about how words are broken down and how we put them together.
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There are so many beautiful alphabet puzzles to choose from! I like this one because, for younger children, the letters are silicone and easy to wash.
But any design is just fine as long as you’re helping your child learn the names of the letters and the corresponding sounds they make.
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I like this multisensory set for preschoolers and kindergarteners. They have to think about the initial sound they hear in the name of their object and then find the corresponding letter. These are important early reading skills! You can also make your own version of this.
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This is a lovely piece of décor for a child’s bedroom or play area by illustrator and author Phoebe Wahl.
Listen to as much music as possible
Listening to music, from the earliest of a child’s days, can enhance their ability to hear and manipulate sounds. Several studies have found that children with musical training show stronger phonological awareness and, subsequently,stronger reading skills. Nothing is more subjective than choosing music, but here are some artists and albums that children seem to enjoy.
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Ella Jenkins, the “First Lady of children’s music,” wrote many wonderful folk songs for children. I’ll never forget my early childhood professor at Hunter College playing this album to a roomful of future teachers.
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A more contemporary children’s music icon:Laurie Berkner.
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Sixty-three tracks from 35 years ofSesame Street! Catchy tunes from our favorite Muppets that are alsostreaming on Spotifyif you don’t want to shell out for the discontinued three-CD box set.
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David Bowie narrates Prokofiev’sPeter and the WolfalongsideThe Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra—great for building listening skills and vocabulary as well as an appreciation for classical music.
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‘Feel What U Feel’ by Lisa Loeb
Did you know that Ethan Hawke directed Lisa Loeb’s “Stay (I Missed You)”? Did you also know thatLisa Loeb now makes music for children?
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A favorite in the ’70s,Marlo Thomas & Friendsbrought together well-known performers and storytellers for songs and stories. It’s still great!
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Just throwing inmy favorite band of all time. Force your children to love your music.
Incorporate audiobooks and books with sound effects to enhance kids’ relationship with words
Audiobooks are great for travel, for children not yet reading, and for when you simply need a break from reading aloud.
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Audio players like theYoto and Tonieboxhave many books for children to choose from and allow children as young as three to navigate them independently. There are also plenty of children’s books you can listen to on your phone, for free, through your public library and theLibby app.
Learning Allyis a great subscription audiobook service for children. If your child has been diagnosed with dyslexia or another language-based learning disability, you qualify for a free account.
Musical books and books with sound effects are also a great way to engage young readers and give children not yet reading a bit of independence in controlling the narrative.
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Busy scenes and buttons that make the sounds of trucks, cars, boats, buses, tractors and trains.
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‘Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?’ Sound Book
One of Eric Carle’s beloved books, now with sound effects.
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Another noisy book, this one for the digger-lovers.
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This rechargeable musical book combines Berkner’s catchy “Waiting for the Elevator” with whimsical illustrations.
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A young child goes on an adventure to the compositions of Vivaldi. (Part of a series featuring a wide range of classical music.)
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Who doesn’t want to hear Peppa’s delightful squeal over and over andoveragain?
Always use the big words — and read books with interesting language — no matter their age
Unlike acquiring spoken language, learning to read is not organic or natural — it’s more like cracking a code, one that was invented relatively recently and that a significant portion of the population struggles to learn. (Anestimated 10 to 17.5 percentof the global population has dyslexia.) So in order to prime a child’s brain for reading, families should focus first and foremost on building strong oral language skills, which are foundational to learning to read. By age 3, children from language-rich homes may have heard tens of millions more words than their peers, a gap that hassignificant implicationsfor later academic achievement: recent research confirms thatvocabulary knowledge in kindergartenis one of the strongest predictors of reading comprehension in later grades. In short, the words a child hears and uses before they ever set foot in a classroom matter enormously.
Board books
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‘Black and White,’ by Tana Hoban
Even babies need to be read to, as it builds the habit of daily reading as well as pre-literacy skills.Board bookslike Tana Hoban’sBlack & Whiteare usually the first books that a baby independently learns to reach for and navigate. Hoban was a photographer and children’s book author whose wordless picture books use striking black-and-white and color photography to teach young children about shapes, colors, and the everyday world. The simple, high-contrast visuals are excellent for babies and toddlers alike.
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Kitten’s First Full Moonby Kevin Henkes is a charming, black-and-white picture book about a kitten who mistakes the moon for a bowl of milk. The black and white illustrations, like Hoban’s, are especially helpful for babies whose color vision is still developing.
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‘Moo Ba La La La!’ by Sandra Boynton
Sandra Boynton hardly needs an introduction, but always deserves a place when we’re talking about early childhood board books. Young children quickly learn the bouncy rhymes and beg for these books to be read over and over again.
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I always have a few copies ofDim Sum for Everyoneon hand to give to friends with new babies. The repetitive, easy-to-follow text shows a family sharing different dishes at a restaurant.
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The House in the Nightby Susan Marie Swanson is perfect bedtime book for your baby or toddler, with cozy black-and-white illustrations.
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The pages of Jean Jullien’sThis Is Not a Bookare turned into everyday objects. A book can be anything!
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A board book shaped like a bookstore.
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A board book shaped like a purse that celebrates all of the things a child learns about her grandmother by going through her bag.
Of course, any board book that keeps your child engaged and that you enjoy reading to them will do.You can find more Strategist-favorite board books hereandhere.
Picture books
Be sure to choosepicture booksthat have rich language. It’s important to expose children to a wide vocabulary, pausing when appropriate to explain the meaning of an unfamiliar word. Parents often feel like they need to simplify text when they read aloud, but I recommend you resist the urge. Books with rhyming schemes, with new vocabulary, and even wordless books provide many opportunities to build language.
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Matt de la Peña’sLast Stop on Market Street— winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal — follows a young boy and his grandmother as they journey through their city. It has sharp, sensory details and figurative language, which are both excellent for encouraging oral language skills.
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There’s no one greater at introducing children to new and exciting words thanMaira Kalman.What Pete Ate from A to Zis really just the tip of the Kalman iceberg.
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Brave Ireneby William Steig is one of my all-time favorites. It’s got it all: adventure, a weather catastrophe, a royal ball, and one very brave child. There are many opportunities in this book to expose a child to new and exciting words.
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Calvin Alexander Ramsey’sThe Library in the Woodsis based on the author’s own childhood experience of discovering and frequenting a library for Black residents of his segregated town. It’s a really lovely ode to books, libraries, and connecting with loved ones through literacy.
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Children Just Like Mefeatures short biographies of children from 36 different countries, describing their favorite meals, how they get to school, and what they do for fun. I poured over this book as a kid and, recently, bought the updated edition (2016) for my kids. Exposure to nonfiction builds background knowledge and specific vocabulary that fiction alone often doesn’t provide, which in turn strengthens reading comprehension across all subjects.
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Another great nonfiction read! Your child will even learn the term “oviparus.”
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Gail Gibbonsis beloved in many early childhood classrooms for her clear, accessible nonfiction books, incudingUp Goes the Skyscraper, where explanations are paired with bright, detailed illustrations.
Books that rhyme
The books you choose will depend on your child and their preferences, but it helps to try out books with rhymes, which help build a child’s phonological awareness.
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‘Nanette’s Baguette’ by Mo Willems
Nanette’s journey to fetch a beloved baguette for her mother is told in bold, often silly rhyme. Reading it aloud is pure fun.
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A beloved book from the ’70s about Itchingdown, a mythical town that has a pesky wasp epidemic. The antidote? A giant jam sandwich. It’s fun and rhythmic; great for engagement and early phonemic awareness skills.
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Babies love babies, as this board book, which my first child wanted to read again and again, proves.Everywhere Babiescelebrates babies of all kinds, in playful rhymes.
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In the Thai lullabyHush!by Minfong Ho, a mother kindly asks the animals around her to not wake up her sleeping child. The beautiful illustrations are by artist Holly Meade.
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Written in elegant and rhythmic verse, Lloyd Moss’sZin! Zin! Zin! A Violinintroduces children to musical instruments and the sounds they make. It’s also a great counting lesson for a young child.
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Another board book favorite,Jamberryis a really delightful book of rhyme featuring a boy, a bear, and berries. Many, many berries.
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The Gruffalois impossible not to include when we talk about excellent books of rhyme. Its predictive, rhyming structure is very engaging for young children.
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Named one of Bank Street’s best books of 2025,The Smell of Wet Dogis a poetry book that any young canine-lover is sure to appreciate.
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Shel Silverstein is a legend for a reason. His irreverent, absurd, and exquisite anthologies are wonderful for learning about language and poetry.
Books without words
Wordless books enhance a child’s understanding of story structure, vocabulary, and comprehension skills, like inferencing and prediction-making, by shifting focus from text to the visual narrative. This format encourages active participation and imagination, as readers have to interpret and construct stories from illustrations alone. The open-ended nature of these books allows for a range of interpretations, which can change with each re-read.
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Bunny and Treeis a captivating book that explores friendship and growth. Bunny forms a special bond with Tree, a wise and enduring presence in the forest. Through their interactions, Bunny learns about change, resilience, and the importance of nurturing relationships.
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Journeyfollows a young girl who, using a red crayon, draws a door on her bedroom wall and embarks on an enchanting journey through a magical world.
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Professional Crocodileby Giovanna Zoboli is a charming and funny book that follows a crocodile who leads a remarkably sophisticated and busy life.
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This Caldecott Medal winner is a very sweet story of a playful dog and her favorite ball.
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‘Tuesday’ by David Wiesner
David Wiesner is a prolific author of wordless children’s books.Tuesday, a nearly text-free story, follows a group of frogs who mysteriously take flight on lily pads one Tuesday night.
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InWolf in the Snowby Matthew Cordell, a young girl helps a lost wolf pup find its way home during a storm. Despite challenges along the way, both the girl and the wolf end up finding comfort and friendship in each other.
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‘Pancakes for Breakfast’ by Tomie dePaola
Tomie dePaola’sPancakes for Breakfastis a delightful book about a young girl who tries to make pancakes all by herself.
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