EXPERT ADVICE

Reading aloud to a child appears to be a very simple act. However, the child is learning more than we can imagine about print and language.

I know my grandmother would never believe it, but during my visits to New Orleans as a child--when I got to sit next to her on that plaid sofa with our favorite book of fairy tales--she was helping me to become a reader. Together we became lost in the stories; her voice became great as the lion who needed help and as squeaky and small as the mouse who came to the rescue.

Later in the day, much to my pleasure, she would use those voices again during everyday tasks. Without thinking, she showed me how stories can come alive and how readers can continue talking about them after the book is closed.

I have a dear friend who read regularly with his sons. They got in the habit of talking like the characters in the book. Besides building a tight bond between them, it developed the vocabulary in the boys. As they reread the books, they listened more carefully to the language and added new phrases to their conversations. This same father had long discussions with his sons when they had questions about the plot, characters or illustrations.

Remember that responding to your child is more important than getting through the book, even though it can feel frustrating.

These discussions build on a child’s curiosity, extend vocabulary and develop positive connections with books. When reading a book, it is also possible to point to the words as you read. This is called tracking and tends to be helpful when a child is beginning to recognize some words.

Pointing draws attention to the word as you are saying it. This practice also reinforces that we read left to right and from the top of the page to the bottom. Your tracking is an invitation for your children to notice some things about print.

It’s important to understand that reading should not be a quiz session.

The more we honestly engage ourselves in books with our children, the more we help them in their reading. These will be the times we ourselves get curious about jellyfish and look up more about them on the Internet, or when we engage our child in conversation about how much we like the artwork of a favorite illustrator.

If we only bombard our children with questions during a story, then we take away the pleasure and, I suggest, the real learning. As Deanisha, a first-grader, said to me while I was reading to her, “Could you stop asking so many questions? You are pushing the story out of my head.”

BOOK EVENTS

* Tuesday in Cerritos: Story time at Barnes & Noble Bookstore focuses on Black History Month. 12741 Towne Center Drive, 7 p.m. (562) 809-5767.

* Thursday in Los Angeles: Family story time at the Washington Irving Branch Library celebrates Black History Month with a special program by storyteller Michael D. McCarthy. 1803 S. Arlington Ave., 3:30 p.m. (323) 734-6303.

* Thursday in Hacienda Heights: The Year of the Rabbit will be celebrated during family story time at the Hacienda Heights Library as Chinese New Year stories are read. 16010 La Monde St., 7 p.m. (626) 968-9356.

* Saturday in Torrance: Children’s story time at Bookstar features a reading from “Spot the Dog,” and a visit from the book’s canine character. 2730 Pacific Coast Highway, 11 a.m. (310) 326-8722.