A strong vocabulary helps readers comprehend what they are reading. The more words a child knows, the better he/she can understand complex text. Book are a great way to add to your child's vocabulary that may not be part of his/her everyday live.
Here are some ways to reinforce new words.
Ask your child what they think the word means. Does the sentence make sense using this meaning?
Give the definition of new words.
Give a synonym of a word your child already knows.
Act out the word, if possible.
Repeat reading the book to reinforce the meaning of new words.
Here are a couple of examples of books with rich vocabulary.
Not Friends by Rebecca Bender is beautifully illustrated book about getting along with others. Words or phrases that may not be familiar to children are in a larger font. New words include abide, invades, slurps, prunes, sneeze, perch, swats, dizzy, tumble, patience, crash, glum, pester and perturb.
Water Land by Christy Hale is a deceptively simple book with cleverly constructed die-cut pages that identifies and contrasts types of water bodies and their corresponding land masses. New words include cape, strait, isthmus, archipelago, gulf and peninsula. There is a summary at the end and map showing where these water and land forms are located throughout the world.
All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon is about the water cycle which includes artistic swirls of rivers and ocean, pelting rain, brown desert, and green forests. The descriptive language includes wobbles, cascaded, meandered, wavered, thirsty, sips, guzzles, swirls, crowded, bumps, avalanche, stampede, wealth, rustle, and precious.
Explore all the following picture books with rich vocabulary. Fancy Nancy is a series of books in which Nancy has a knack for finding vivid, interesting words. The Nancy Clancy easy reader series is a continuation of the Fancy Nancy books. Amelia Bedelia is also a series. Amelia takes the meaning of words literally which will have your children laughing. For example, she thinks "dust the furniture" means to apply dusting powder to the furniture. Brian Cleary explores grammar in humorous ways in his numerous books.
