Today, I read The Small One to my three year old daughter. I totally changed my approach in reading it to her vs. how I read it to my 5 year old. First we looked at the cover. I pointed to the donkey and asked her,"What animal do you think this is?" She thought about it for a few seconds, and then said, "An Eeyore". I thought that was so cute! It is obvious she knows her Winnie the Pooh characters! So I explained that it is a donkey, and Eeyore is also a donkey. Then, since she has a shorter attention span, I summarized some of the story to keep it moving along. For instance, when we got to the part about the tanner, I didn't explain what a tanner was, or even read that part. I just told her that he was a mean guy who wasn't going to take care of Small One. At one point in the story, she recognized and read the word "the". That got her into her pretend reading mode. So, I let her "read" and tell the story for a while. Then, when she started repeating her own story, I said, "Let's see what else these words say." Then, I went on reading the story. I explained to her who Mary and her husband were.
I have found that in most children's picture books, they can be adapted to fit the age of your child by varying your approach. Another way I could read this book if I were reading it to a one year old, for instance, would be to simply look at and talk about things I see in the pictures.
