The most important consideration in selecting manuscripts for the Make Way for Books app is how well the ​submission matches the developmental needs of the age group—infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Some children may even grow up with the app! However, each age group has its developmental needs. Learning to read takes time, four to six years at least. The brain has to develop all sorts of connections! Our goal is to help parents and caregivers make reading experiences a beneficial and fun activity that engages the child at their developmental level.

We will evaluate your submission related to child development information and best practices for young children. Here are more specifics for each age group.

​

Infants

For infants, we include books of chants, songs, and rhymes that the adult reads and recites with the child in a back and forth, serve and return manner. The Read Now books on the app for infants are meant to be used to support these interactions. Knowing the cautions regarding technology and our youngest children, we advocate that the parent follows along and rhymes, sings, and plays with their baby rather than giving them the phone. Doing this helps develop important language skills and is a great opportunity for parents to bond with their baby. Please keep this in mind when submitting manuscripts for infants.

​

Toddlers

Like babies, toddlers are still figuring out how their family communicates with each other. They listen intently and attempt to join in conversations with words, short phrases, and sentences. Therefore, the emphasis is still on back and forth, serve and return interactions which help develop important language, vocabulary, and comprehension skills and provide a great opportunity for parents to bond with their toddler.

Toddlers understand more about how language works and can figure out what the stories in books are about and make predictions about what will happen. Toddler Read Now books should be a little shorter, because we know that toddlers can have quite short attention spans. And, just like babies, toddlers love songs chants, rhymes, and repetition—it makes reading fun! Wordless (illustration-only) books are also a great choice at this age, and allow a parent to tailor the story to their child’s attention span.

​

Preschoolers

Preschoolers love to talk with others! They are curious and ask lots of questions. They want to know and understand how the world works and what’s important in their family. They are figuring out who they are and how to love and learn. The Make Way for Books app emphasizes the importance of serve and return interactions for preschoolers, too. The Read Now books for this age group help build important connections in the child's brain and encourage parents to talk, read, sing, and play with their child. Preschooler Read Now books can be a little longer and deal with themes that are a bit more complex. They can also be filled with songs, rhymes, poems, and word play.

Preschoolers pay attention to the sounds of language. This is an important step toward learning to read. Stories can make them laugh, teach them something, show them about different families and cultures, and give them a window into the world of nature. Alphabet and counting books expose them to the symbols of reading, writing, and math. Wordless books (illustration-only) are also a great choice for preschoolers. At this age, parents and children can come up with stories for the illustrations together.

All are designed for an adult to read with their child as a way to support them in their journey to becoming a reader. Doing this helps develop important language, vocabulary, and comprehension skills and provides a great opportunity for parent and child to bond together.