A cute dinosaur mascot waters flowering books alongside the Growing Readers Together logo

Growing Readers Together: 1000 Books Before Kindergarten

Reading aloud is the best and most enjoyable way to prepare babies, toddlers, and preschoolers to learn to read on their own. It also encourages a lifelong love of books and reading, and strengthens the caregiver-child bond. For these reasons, Westmont Public Library is encouraging you to read at least 1000 books to your child before they enter kindergarten.

 

The Growing Readers Together challenge is designed to help by providing a way to track and celebrate your reading.

Book Rex, a cute dinosaur with a large head and short arms, wearing gloves and a straw hat on their back, crouches down to plant a book in freshly dug soil

How it works

Read aloud to your infant, toddler, or preschooler. Log each book you read through the Beanstack website or app—or keep track with paper logs, which you can print below or pick up in Youth Services, along with instructions, coloring pages, and tip sheets.

Read at your own pace. For example, if you read three books a day for one year or one book a day for three years, you’ll reach 1000 books.

All books count! Books read with family, friends, or other caregivers count. Books read at storytime or preschool count, too. Reading the same book more than once counts.

Earn incentives to celebrate your reading. For every 100 books read, come in to take your picture with a special sign. In addition, at 100 books, come in for a sticker, and at 500 books, come in for a sticker and a small prize. Once you reach the goal of 1000 books, come in for a sticker and a prize book you can keep!

Printable reading logs & early literacy resources

Each reading log sheet has space to record 100 books. The designs are interchangeable, so choose whichever you prefer!

Sunflowers reading log | Flowers reading log | Seedlings reading log | Vines reading log | Water drops reading log

Early literacy tips

Reading Rockets has created tip sheets with ideas for making reading enjoyable and interactive, incorporating song and play, and creating time and space for reading at each stage of development:

Babies | Bebés

Toddlers | Niños pequeños

Preschoolers | Niños en preescolar/pre-kindergarten

Book Rex pushes a wheelbarrow full of books that are sprouting leaves and flowers
Book Rex stands on his toes to trim a tree into the shape of a book

Beanstack instructions

If you’ve already used Beanstack for a prior reading program, such as Summer Learning or Westmont Reads, you can use the same account for this challenge. If you’re new to Beanstack, all you need to sign up is an email address.

How to sign up: Desktop | Mobile

How to log reading: Desktop | Mobile

Visit Beanstack.

Please contact the Youth Services Department with questions at [email protected] or 630 869 6165.