Reading; Children's Books

Children's books set in Pittsburgh include:

Pickles to Pittsburgh by J. and R. Barrett
Goodnight Pittsburgh by M. Jasper
Santa is Coming to Pittsburgh by S. Smallman
Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates by J. Winter.

Read these with your child to increase early reading skills, vocabulary and reasoning.  Here is a link about reading milestones: http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/all_reading/milestones.html

Please post below if you know of any additional children's books set in Pittsburgh.

Reading: Young adult books based in Pittsburgh

Help your young adult with her reading skills by reading a book based in Pittsburgh.  You can read along with her to increase her reading comprehension, critical reasoning and vocabulary building.  I can only think of two books set in Pittsburgh:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (note: this does contain some "mature" subject matter, so I recommend reading the book yourself first before recommending it to your child)

The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiavarelli (set in southwestern PA).

Please post below if you know of any books set in Pittsburgh appropriate for children/young adults.

One, two and three syllable words to practice at the Pittsburgh zoo, and at home; Reading

Practicing production of words at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium is fun and a great way to use speech and language in a real world setting.  But what do you do once you are at home?  To take things to the next level, I recommend reviewing the words with your child via books.  Many picture books are centered on animals, and you can find a book for just about any animal.  Choose the animal/book based on your child's interest or speech/language needs.  For example, if she is working on producing two syllable words, then read books on monkeys and pandas.  Have her say the word whenever she sees a picture of the animal.  If she is working on reading chapter books, then have her read about owls in the Harry Potter series (she can read sections aloud so that you can prompt her as appropriate).  If she needs practice on the /r/ sound, reference The Rainbow Fish.  Below is a list of words and books for children.  As always, please post below or e-mail me if you need assistance in meeting goals or creating activities.

One syllable words with associated books:

Fish: The Rainbow Fish
Seal: The Seals on the Bus
Cat: The Cat in the Hat
Dog: Clifford the Big Red Dog
Hen: The Little Red Hen
Shark: Shark in the Dark
Snake: The Snake Who Was Afraid of People
Horse: National Velvet
Mouse: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Bear: The Berenstain Bears series
Pig: The Amazing Bone
Fox: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Moose: If You Give a Moose a Muffin
Bat: Bats at the Beach
Deer: The Yearling
Ape: Evangeline Mudd and the Golden-Haired Apes of the Ikkinasti Jungle

Two syllable words with associated books:

Lion: The Lion King
Monkey: Curious George
Giraffe: Giraffes Can't Dance
Lemur: The Ako Series
Panda: Dinner at the Panda Palace
Rabbit: The Velveteen Rabbit
Camel: How the Camel Got its Hump
Llama: Llama Llama Red Pajama
Sea Horse: One Lonely Sea Horse
Owl: Harry Potter series
Turkey: Turkey Trouble
Stingray: Toys Come Home
Parrot: If You Were a Parrot
Peacock: Three Hens and a Peacock
Spider: Charlotte's Web
Penguin: Mr. Popper's Penguins
Reindeer: Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Tiger: Mr. Tiger Goes Wild

Three syllable words and associated books:

Kangaroo: What do you do with a kangaroo?
Porcupine: A Porcupine Named Fluffy
Elephant: Babar series
Flamingo: Mud City, A Flamingo Story
Koala: Koala Lou
Gorilla: Good Night, Gorilla