Sophie at the Library

Reading together

Reading age 3–4 describes the audience for this adult-led Shared Reading book, not an independent reading-level assessment. This is a read-aloud story for ages 3–4, not an independent reading-level text. Read at the child’s pace. Children can listen, point, gesture, sign or join in with familiar words. Joining in is optional.

Before reading

Look at the title and cover. Introduce the characters and setting. Explore these five words with pictures, actions and familiar examples: library, shelf, librarian, borrow, bag. Invite a prediction about what might happen.

During reading

Use Talk Together for a prompt on each page. Talk about what people do and how they feel. Connect familiar places and experiences. Invite children to join in with repeated words or gestures.

After reading

Look at the three pictures. Tell what happened first, next and last. Children can point, gesture, sign or talk with an adult. What helped Sophie? Name the people and places, and talk about what happened. Invite different experiences and respect a child’s choice not to share.

People, places and belonging

Social Science idea

Libraries are shared community places. Librarians help people find books, and borrowed books are returned for others.

Notice together

Talk about the people, places and choices in the pictures. Families and communities can do things in different ways.

Try together

Make a pretend library with a few familiar books. Take turns borrowing and returning them with an adult.

Talk together

Connect the story with familiar experiences without asking children to share private family information.

Activities with an adult

The eleven separate question cards include recall, word meaning, observation, simple “why” questions and discussion. Read the questions and choices aloud and offer picture support. Explore five vocabulary words, build them from movable letters and order three story pictures. Model a vocabulary word for the child to copy; letter recognition and independent decoding are not required. Mouse dragging, finger dragging, tap controls and keyboard controls are available. Use the light green and red feedback as a chance to look at the story again.

Choose a few activities at a time, according to the child’s interest. Use the adult-led exploration described above, or drawings and gestures, according to the child’s interest. Activities are optional; use only a few at a time.