Which reading books for 2 year old (if any!)?

[ElusiveMoose]

DS is 2.7 and he absolutely loves letters (and numbers). Left to his own devices it's what he always wants to play, and even when we're playing other things, he manages to bring letters and numbers into it (e.g. if we're doing painting he'll ask me to paint letters for him to copy, or if we're in the garden he'll want to spell the things he sees etc).

I'm now wondering whether I should start getting him some simple reading books, as I'm sure he'd love them. He's progressed beyond the 'cat' 'mum' 'dog' stage, and is now able to recognise more difficult words with little or no help, like 'sing' 'green' 'sunny'. When we read story books together, he picks out any words in bold/caps and wants to read them, and he likes to find words on the page (e.g. if we're reading The Gruffalo he wants to find the word 'Gruffalo').

At the same time, I'm worried about him going too fast - particularly as he's a September baby, so he'll be effectively 5 before he starts school.

So, the question is - should I feed his interest and get him some reading books? And if so, which ones are the best (all I remember is Peter and Jane)? Or, should I be trying to divert his interest more into other things and slow down his pace a little?

Personally, I'd stick with reading the books you enjoy together with DS helping out with words when he feels like it. It sounds like you've been doing a good job of letting him go at his own pace so far.

Concentrate on getting him to tell you the story from the pictures, as story telling is a key skill in reading. A book like 'You Choose' might be good - no words but lots of chances to talk and make up stories.

IMO at the this early age, getting books with the expectation that a child will learn to read them is setting you both up for frustration and failure. Just enjoy the process of reading together for the time being.

Thanks, Piprabbit. It probably sounds silly, but I hadn't really thought about getting him to tell a story himself (he retells stories that we've already read, but hasn't tried making anything up yet). Like the sound of the book you recommend, so I'll definitely check it out.