Peace at Last by Jill Murphy

Summary of the Story

Mr. and Mrs. Bear and Baby Bear go to bed. Mr. Bear can't sleep in his own bed because Mrs. Bear snores. He tries to find a quiet place to sleep, moving from Baby Bear's room, to the living room, to the kitchen, to the garden, to the car. Each place is too noisy. Mr. Bear finally moves back to his own bed. By this time, the house is quiet and Mr. Bear finds "peace at last."

• Read the title of the book on the cover, pointing to the words Peace at Last as you say them. Repeat the title with the child.
• Point to the picture. Ask: What do you see here? (Two bears are sleeping peacefully.) You might explain that peaceful means "calm and quiet."

Reading the Story for the First Time

• Read the story, moving your finger under the words as you read. Give your child plenty of time to look at the pictures.
• After reading, ask: Where could Mr. Bear find a quiet place to sleep in your house?

Reading the Book Again and Again

• Each time you read Peace at Last, leave more of the "reading" or retelling to your child. Give open-ended prompts on each page. For example, ask: What is happening in this picture? Where is Mr. Bear now?
• Give prompts about objects or activities in the pictures. For example, ask: What is sitting on the fence? (A cat is sitting on the fence.) Use your finger to point to what you are asking about. Evaluate the child's response. Expand it by giving more information. Ask the child to repeat the answer. If he or she needs help in answering a question, ask that question again the next time you read the book. Good words to ask about are listed in the vocabulary section below. Be sure to talk about objects and actions the child brings up, too.
• You may wish to discuss the prompts shown below.

Building Literacy

• Start a conversation about what the child does at bedtime. You might use words and phrases such as take a bath, read a book, listen to music, and so on.

Excerpted from Read Together, Talk Together, the Pearson Early Childhood research-based program that makes reading aloud even more effective!