孩子很小的时候我就开始给他读书，先是读的无字书（他们最喜欢的是瑞士莫妮克的小老鼠无字书共８本），百科全书（中文的）， Baby Faces ，后来开始读英文的，各种系列： Clifford ， Elmo ， Thomas ， Dora ， Pooh 等等。当然了，中文的也没放弃：各种童话，三毛等。
孩子慢慢地大了，去 Pre-school 了，和小朋友的交往也越来越多了，我开始给他读一些关于 Manners 方面的书。其实这样的书也不用找，因为基本每一个系列的书都有涉及这方面的。需要特别提一提的有三套： Jane Yolen 的 How Do Dinosaurs 系列， David Shannon 的 David 系列和中文的基于 Pooh Bear 的《全面解决育子难题的动人故事》。事实上前两套是一位在美国教书的朋友推荐的，她说她用来做教材。
上面提的几套书的优点我就不提了，反正我孩子非常喜欢，百读不厌，说说缺点吧。这些书呢基本上都是以动物为主人公，采取童话的形式向孩子讲述某一个方面的好行为。我想作者这样写也有他／她的好处，就是孩子容易接受，毕竟卡通动物总是孩子的最爱。可基于我自己的观察实践，孩子虽然喜欢这些故事，可有时候很难联系到自己，更不要提能应用在和小朋友交往的实际中。
在教会主日学进行的 Character Training 系列中，朋友向我推荐了另外一套书，说实话不太出名，但看过后我发现内容非常地好，恰恰弥补了前面几套书的欠缺。看看书名吧：
Respect and Take Care of Things
When I Feed Afraid
Be Careful and Stay Safe
Be Honest and Tell the Truth
这套书的一个显著特点就象我刚说的一样：直接。每本书都基于一个主题，用鲜明简洁的图画表明不同的场景下怎样才是 good manners ，怎样才是好的 Characters 。每页只有一个句子，非常适合 Preschool 或者 Kindergarten 的孩子自己读。另外一个重要的特色就是书的结尾有专门供父母加深孩子概念的参考：包括每页可以和孩子讨论的问题，可以和孩子一起做的手工，一起玩的游戏（这比较适合我这样的懒人哦。）
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:  An excellent series--get them all!, By A House or Readers "Sharon Rey-Barreau" (Kentucky, USA) I would highly recommend any of the books in this series by Cheri Meiners. This book has been especially helpful as my 5-year-old sometimes encounters children who *don't* share well or want to take turns. These books caught my eye because the writing level is just right for pre-K and kindergarten children. Truthful without being preachy or overly wordy, the series shows children and family members from many different ethnic groups in the colorful illustrations, and each book addresses issues which are developmentally critical to this particular age group: sharing, taking turns, being afraid, listening, respecting others, helping out at home, etc. These books have given us a starting point to discuss problems at school or interacting with others, and have helped my son to have more empathy for his peers....I am hopeful that this quality will serve him well as he continues on to kindergarten and elementary school. It is exciting to hear him use ideas from this series to problem solve. |
