Cali's Books blog

It is never too early to encourage kids to read. Even a toddler can have the ability to decode words. This means we want to get them started with reading at a very young age before they are actively learning to read. This only will help their reading skills come in quicker when they are truly ready.

There are 3 easy ways to help kids developing their love for books:

1. Stock Up On Plenty Of Children's Books And Read To The Kids- You will want to stock up on children's reading books from the time they are babies until they are ready to start reading on their own. The earlier you have plenty of these books on hand and are reading to your kids, the more familiar they will be with being read to. And, as a result, they will have the desire to want to learn to read themselves if they are constantly read to.

2. Read To The Child Several Times A Day - Don't just only read to child at bedtime. In fact, read to kids several other times in a day. The kids could associate reading with going to bed. Reading to kids several times a day will avoid that association. Besides, the more they are read to, the more they will be encouraged to learn how to read on their own.

3. Allow The Kids To Choose The Books They Want - Ask your kids which books they want you to read to them so they can become enthusiastic about reading and story time. After all, you want your kids to develop a positive attitude about reading! And allowing them to choose the books will help.

These 3 suggested tips help to encourage kids to read, then they will develop a love for reading sooner rather than later. If you want your kids to be excited and enthusiastic about reading, these tips will help make that happen. 

I contacted Robert Greenberg after reading his article on the Huffington post Bedtime Music: 10 Soothing Classical Pieces for Kids of Any Age, when we were working on our new book BEDTIME With Mozart and Other Greats.

As historian, composer, pianist and father of four, he's a strong advocate for teaching kids to play an instrument. Listening to music is very important but the practice of an instrument is crucial too. Our kids are very young and none of us are good musicians so I asked for his tips on how to introduce piano for kids and I found them super useful:

1. Piano is a friend, the soonest you can expose your kid to the instrument is the best. It's nice that the piano is part of his natural environment before starting lessons. Young kids are very much attracted by the object and they'll use it as a game before using it as an instrument. 
2. Buy a real piano, avoid the keyboard and invest in a second hand upright piano. I was surprised that the investment of having an upright piano in our living room is not as expensive as it was when I was a kid and it looks so much better.
3. Don't start lessons too early, six years old is the youngest for a kid to start piano lessons. They involve discipline and daily practice, it's good to let them be kids and just have fun at the beginning.

What about your experience on teaching children instruments?

I came across an article saying that singing is more efficient than speech at keeping infants calm and delaying the onset of crying, citing a new Canadian study. Newborns may benefit from a soothing tune, but for older babies and preschoolers it's better to choose something lively and familiar, such as "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" or "Old MacDonald Had a Farm", recommends study co-author Sandra E. Trehub, PhD.

I'm very interested in this topic, so I contacted Dr Sandra E. Trehub. She replied to my email and suggested to talk before I even had time to go through her very impressive list of publications. Listening to her was fascinating and helped me to understand our books better.

Older babies and preschoolers are soothed by nursery songs like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" or "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" because the songs remind them the comforting feeling they had when they heard them from their care givers, often the mother. The soothing effect does not come from the nursery song itself but from the babies memory of hearing it and the familiar feeling associated with the song. The most important part in this process is the interaction between the caregivers and the babies. If you're not confident in your singing skills and if you want to avoid using phone or tablet, musical books help to create these precious musical moments with your little one. 

Thank you for stopping by and wanting to know more about us.

I'm Cali. I started Cali's Books in 2017 to share my love of reading, singing and listening to music to my daughter Margaux.

Two years later, Margaux as a younger brother Julien and we sold 10,000 books. This is an incredibly exciting journey, Im so excited to share.

In this blog, I'll discuss the highs and lows of starting a company, the great people I've met, the new places I've discovered, the research I read and my creative process... What else? I'll explore as we go.

Please tell me what you would like to read!!

Cali