Read from the Start
Read from the Start – Quality Start LA has teamed up with the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) System, the LA County Library (LACL) System, the Pasadena Public Library and Sesame Street in Communities to bring you “Read from the Start.”
Each month, QSLA and your local library systems will work together to develop a themed booklist, reading tips, and family activities all designed for families with children ages birth to five. Click on the Read from the Start booklists below to download a PDF of the list.
May 2020: Celebrating Diverse Families
Monthly Booklist: To print out and share!
Click on the images below to download the PDF of the booklists, or scroll to the bottom of the page to find every book at your local Los Angeles Public, LA County Library, and Pasadena Public Library.
NEW this month: Click on each book this month to access the Read-Aloud version of each story!
Monthly Activity: Circle of Care
- Help your child draw a picture of themselves on a blank sheet of paper.
- Next, have your child draw close family and friends around their self-portrait. Then have them draw neighborhood helpers such as doctors, teachers, and police.
- Help your child label all the pictures with names or descriptions.
- Talk with your child about each person and name ways that person cares for them. For example, “Grandma cooks your favorite food for you,” or “Your doctor helps you feel better when you’re sick.”
- Go over the completed page together. Remind them, “There are always people who will be there to care for you!”
- Hang up the picture to refer to it when times get tough.
This activity is inspired by the Sesame Street in Communities’ activity “Exploring Kid’s ‘Circle of Care'”, sesamestreetincommunities.org/activities/circleofcare
For more activities related to the booklist, click on the links below to further engage children in these stories and keep their little minds and bodies active.
A Family is a Family is a Family
25 Reading and Writing Activities
Click the links below for more books available for read aloud from:
Reading is Fundamental: Some of your favorite stories available for children pre-k through 6th grade!
Storyline Online: Watch as some of your favorite actors and actresses read their stories aloud to your little ones!
Monthly Family Reading Tip: Start Simple-Book Awareness
Early reading skills can start even before children begin learning letters! When you get ready to read a book, show your child how to hold a book and where the top and bottom and front and back of the book are. Point to the title of the book. Help children learn how to turn the pages. These are all important early reading skills that will support their future reading development.
Check these books out at your local library!
Find this month’s books available for digital download at your local library or for read-aloud on Youtube.
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- More More More Said the Baby by Vera Williams
- A Family is a Family is a Family by Sara O’Leary
- My New Mom & Me by Renata Galindo
- Mixed Me! by Taye Diggs
- Still a Family by Brenda Reeves Sturgis
- Stella Brings the Family by Miriam B. Schiffer
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Access more Booklists from our Read from the Start Archive
Looking for more great resources?
Browse Quality Start LA’s collection of booklists, child-friendly activities, coronavirus resources, and holiday activities guides.