Hints and tips for reading aloud:

• Most importantly, share books that you enjoy reading.
• Preview the books you read. It helps make a smoother storytime.
• Be enthusiastic.
• Smile often.
• Establish an opening ritual, such as a song or activity, that will signal to the child that storytime has begun.
• Let your voice get soft and loud. Change your pace, fast and slow.
• Encourage children to ask questions and/or repeat words.
• Choose books that encourage participation.
• Choose books with bright, clear pictures.
• Look for stories with rhyme and repetition.
• Invite your child's friends to join you.
• Encourage other special people in the child's life (older siblings, babysitters) to "do" a storytime.
• Vary the activity, for example do a story, a poem, a song, then another story to allow children a little wiggle time between stories.
• Use a fingerplay such as My Hands or Open, Shut Them when it's time to wind down from an exciting activity such as a favorite song and start a new story. Choose one you like and be consistant.
• Recognize when the child is just too wound up or tired for a successful storytime. You can always end with a song and try again later or another day.