Your preschooler:

Your three year old:

Knows that print is what is read in stories.
Has favorite books and likes to hear them often.
Pretends to read and write.
Makes up silly sounds, words, and songs.
Plays a part in reading by turning pages and saying words in well-known stories.
Demonstrates comprehension through questions and observations.

Your four year old:

Enjoys sharing books with a caregiver.
Knows some letter sounds, and can differentiate between sounds that are the same
and sounds that are different.
Knows some printed letters and numbers.
Often has some books memorized.
May be able to identify rhyming words.

Tips for reading with your preschooler:

Talk about the characters in a story and what they are doing.
Improve reading comprehension by asking who, what, when, where, why, and how questions.
Recite rhymes and poems with your child.
Keep books in places where your child can easily see them.
Ask open-ended questions that involve more than a one or two word response.
Go places together and discuss your experiences.
Read books with patterns and familiar phrases that your child can "read" along with you.
Read books about counting, the alphabet, numbers, colors, and shapes.
Show and name the parts of a book, such as the cover, title, author, pages, top, bottom, front, and back.

Books for three year old preschoolers:

Books for four year old preschoolers: