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Share the Joy of Reading with Your Child Without Spending a Dime

We all know that reading to our children is a great way to bond with our children and to enhance their brain power, but it is not necessary to spend a fortune on children’s books in order to accomplish this goal. Here are several ideas for you to share reading with your child, without spending a dime.

We all know that reading to our children is a great way to bond with them and to enhance their brain power, but it is not necessary to spend a fortune on children's books in order to accomplish this goal. Listed below are several ideas for you to share reading with your child, without spending a dime.

  1. Story time At Your Local Library

    Most public libraries have some sort of story time for young children. Usually preschool to 3rd grade students can participate in this. Some libraries even do activities with the children related to the stories, conduct puppet shows, or play music that goes along with the theme of the books read.
  2. Motherread

    This is a program offered at many public libraries in the U.S. Motherread is a weekly program that encourages parental involvement in education and promotes reading to your children. Parents will read books out loud to their children during this session and then a group discussion about the theme of the books follow. Children will then work with parents to complete fun activities or crafts related to each theme. Free books are given at the end of each session.
  3. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

    This is a wonderful charity program for children in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. Applications can be found at your local library. Children signed up for the Imagination Library will receive one free book per month in the mail from birth until they reach their fifth birthday. Many of these books are hardback, classic books that your child will enjoy for years to come.
  4. Free Books For Kids

    This is an internet site where parents can read books to their children online. Classics such as Tom Sawyer and Treasure Island can be found at this site.
  5. Children's Story Books Online

    is another internet site for children. This site has interactive short stories online for children of all ages. These stories are not the classics, but they are still fun reads.
  6. ByGosh

    is another internet site with illustrated short stories for young children. This is aimed more at the preschooler. This site has classic children's stories such as The Little Red Hen, Jack and the Beanstalk, and The Hare and the Tortoise.
  7. Mighty Books

    This has interactive, animated short stories for children to listen and read along to online. This site also has many other fun features such as knock, knock jokes, games, art corner, and a puzzle page. Parent and child will both enjoy exploring this fun site.
  8. Barnes & Noble Story Time

    You may find your local Barnes & Noble participates in a weekly story time for preschoolers. This is free to the public and the book store may even invite children to participate in a related activity or craft after the story. Check the schedule of the Barnes and Noble near you.
  9. Share Books With a Friend

    You may want to try trading books with other parents from time to time in order to expose your child to new literature without buying new books.

Happy Reading!

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Comments (5)
#1 by Rachel, May 10, 2008
I am a mother of 5 kids. I did use the neighborhood library lots. Maxed out each of our cards each time we visited the library, saves us the trouble of running out of books!

Thanks for the sites. will check it out. :)
#2 by nobert soloria bermosa, May 10, 2008
-very nice article Josey
nice tips too, thanks
#3 by Alexa Gates, May 10, 2008
great article! the library is awesome! you can get as many books as you want for free ;) So it's a good tool to use ;)
#4 by Ruby Hawk, May 10, 2008
Josey, these are wonderful ideas. it's so good for kids to be interested in books and such a joy to carry them through a lifetime.
#5 by Lucy Lockett, May 12, 2008
A grossly underrated resource! Books are great for children and teaching them a love of reading is a great investment for their futures.
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