Five of Faith's All Time Favorite Books

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We've been reading books to Faith ever since she was a baby. When she was little, she had to wear an eye patch for 30 minutes a day in the hopes it would help strengthen her eye muscles so they would no longer turn inward. 

Reading a book to her while she was wearing the patch was a great way to keep her distracted from having to wear it. Even after she no longer had to wear the patch, she continued to love being read to.

Reading to Faith when she was little

As Faith got older, we had hopes she would learn to read on her own. She is ten and that still hasn't happened. We continue to pray and try to find ways to help her be able to read. Her music therapist is trying to do all she can to help us with this endeavor. We know her vision is fine, but we think her eye muscles might not be working properly to enable her to focus on seeing a word long enough to read it.

Instead of reading, she spends a lot of time memorizing. For this reason, she likes shorter books and even though I've tried to read chapter books to her, she quickly loses interest. She even memorizes the name of the author and the illustrator which is handy when we go to the library to look for books!

Daddy reading one of Faith's favorite books to her

Through the years, she has especially liked these five books:

Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish - Even though there is a younger and more modern Amelia Bedelia, Faith still likes the old-fashioned funny housekeeper who works for Mr. and Mrs. Rogers and has a habit of taking things way too literally. There are a lot of times I roll my eyes at Amelia Bedelia's silly antics, but I must admit, she is pretty hilarious.

The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone - I was amazed to see that this Sesame Street book featuring Grover was first published in 1973. That means the story is older than me! One of Faith's former respite care workers loved this book as a child and I'm glad she recommended it to us. Ever since Kimberly came for a visit last month, Faith has been wanting to read this book again almost every night.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen - This modern classic is not only a book but a video as well. There are a ton of videos on YouTube where kids do their own rendition of this popular book. I must admit when I first read it to Faith, I wasn't overly impressed but she absolutely loved it. It started to grow on me through and for as many times as we've read it, I'm still not tired of it.

Curious George's First Day of School by H.A. Rey - Curious George is a cute little monkey "who's also very curious." Faith loves most of the Curious George books but the one where he goes to school to be a helper is one of her favorites. She also likes to watch Curious George on DVD and Netflix. It's also on PBS at 7:00 a.m. but that's a little too early for us!

Franklin Makes a Deal by Paulette Bourgeois - Franklin is a cute little turtle who has lots of animal friends. There are lots of Franklin books, but this one is Faith's favorite. I think it's because we're always saying to her, "OK Faith, here's the deal..." She also likes to watch Franklin on DVD.

I'm curious to know what some of your child's favorite books are. Also, if your child has special needs, what are some things you are doing to help them learn to read? 

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