Read with me!
Reading aloud to your infant, toddler or preschooler helps develop pre-reading skills and builds a lifelong love of reading. Join the Library’s 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program and help your child learn and grow! Child care centers and preschool programs are invited to join as well. Teachers can keep track of reading and receive prizes for their classroom.
To register:
- Ask a staff member at any of our locations.
- Download the Beanstack app or visit the website.
How it works:
- Books can be from your home or the Public Library and can be read repeatedly. If you read The Very Hungry Caterpillar five times, that counts for 5 books!
- Record your reading on a paper tracking sheet, online in Beanstack, or on the Beanstack app.
- Earn prizes when you reach 100, 500 and 1,000 books read. Visit any of our locations to claim your prize.
Tips for reaching your reading goal:
Check out a Bunny Book Bag already full of picture books OR a Baby Bunny Book Bag full of board books!
Check out e-book picture books and read alongs from home using your IndyPL Library Card. Choose from our 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten e-book collections in OverDrive. If you have never borrowed from OverDrive before directions are available:
- OverDrive/Libby App Directions, Browser Directions, and Video Tutorial
Need help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. The Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.
Tips to engage your littelest readers:
Focus on reading daily rather than on a set amount of time. This encourages a daily reading habit!
Encourage older children to read to younger children. Have them take turns reading. This supports both children in reading development.
Read the same book again and again! This helps children to build comprehension.
Listen to audiobooks. Listening to actors reading builds excitement and expands vocabulary.
Read the pictures. Anytime spent with a book fosters language and understanding.
Words are everywhere! Look for letters and numbers at the grocery store and on signs and menus – show your child that reading is a part of life.
Boost your child’s reading with the Library! Learn more about early learning opportunities at the Library!
For more information about IndyPL's early learning programs, or if you need more help, call or ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or text a librarian at 317 333-6877.
Made possible by Friends of the Library through gifts to The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation.
Extraordinary Alphabet Stories
These are not your average alphabet books: Behold the best picture books to spin entire stories out of the ABCs. Check out the charming and clever narratives! Marvel at the magnificent manifestations of metafiction! There's fun for kids of all ages in these pages.
Q & U Call It Quits
The letters Q and U are QUite a pair, always hanging out together. So what happens to the alphabet when U begins to feel Q is too clingy and decides to spend some time alone? This QUirky tale of friendship dynamics and orthographic chaos will appeal to young readers navigating such things for the first time. Also entertaining for confirmed word nerds, veterans of best friend QUarrels, and anybody who loves cheese.
Astronauts Zoom!
An Astronaut Alphabet
What's it like for astronauts to wake up and go about their work on the International Space Station? Travel through the alphabet *and* a day in space with this awesome NASA photo album. There's a wonderful appendix too, with detailed captions, a vocabulary list, facts about the ISS, and more.
Pride Puppy!
Parade through the alphabet with a celebration of Pride! Join a family of four and their pet dog on a Pride festival adventure. I love how the story of their day moves playfully from A to Z and the joyful illustrations include a whole alphabetical word search.