Zip It and Train Review

Nate and I recently received two lovely books from Little Tiger Press, Zip It and Train.

The first book Nate sat and 'read' was Zip It. Zip It is great for little hands its a board book which contains five different fastenings to play with. Nate found the Zip a little hard at first as it was stiff but after opening and closing it no less than a hundred times he found it a lot easier.

The piggy button works really well, as it does look just like a pig nose.

The only page that I'm not sure about is the hen page which has velcro on it, on our version Nate has only used it a few times and it is already looking a bit worn. 

The best page has to be the last page where it teaches them how to tie shoe laces. 

Next is the book Train, this has been printed as a board book. As I am trying to teach Nate how to read I have really enjoyed reading this book to Nate as there are words that are repeated a lot it has meant I read the story and Nate reads the repeated words. These words have a different coloured background to help with identifying which is great for early readers as it allows them to feel like they are reading a proper story.

Reading to a preschooler

Nate loves his bedtime stories, sometimes he will ask for five or seven books just before bedtime. This is great but I'm starting to get bored of the same books every night. I decided at the beginning of the year to start reading a chapter book for a bedtime story to Nate. 

We have started with the Chronicles of Narnia. 

Nate struggled slightly with The Magician's Nephew or at least he looked bored but after every chapter I'd ask one or two questions about what we'd just read and he'd answer them. Every night as it approached bedtime he'd ask for the story so he was obviously enjoying the book. 

We have recently moved on to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 

Every night he has wanted another chapter and before he settles down to read he tells me about what has happened previously in the book. 

I found that letting Nate choose one picture book to read before the chapter helped him settle into listening to the chapter. We also chose a book which contained pictures so that once in a while there was something for his eyes to focus on instead of looking around the room. This also helps with the transition from reading being a very visual experience with a little listening to reading becoming a listening experience. 

Most importantly it's something we both enjoy.