Donna's Day, Creative family fun
Publish Your Own Night Night Book
BYDONNAERICKSON

Make a family reading resolution this year, and kick it off with a brand-new book you publish with the youngest budding reader in your family. To get you started, here are some ideas for your first book, titled "Night Night Book." Not only will your child have a one-of-akind book to enjoy, but also it has the added benefit of making the bedtime ritual extra fun!

Each page represents something in your children's world they're familiar with, something they see or use each day. As you read it over and over, new stories will emerge, giving a boost to language development and a love for books and reading.

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

--Poster board or sturdy paper

--Magazine pictures and photographs of people, places and pets familiar to your child (you might wish to use color copies of photos for this book) --Smallflatitems(or simple drawings of items) familiar to child

--Scissors --Glue --Markers Here's the fun:

Collect photographs and magazine pictures as well as items familiar to your child such as paper labels from food products. Cut poster board into 8-inch-by-8-inch pages. Make as many pages as you wish.

On the cover, glue a photo of your child and write the words "Night Night," and your child's name (for example "Night Night, Adam").

Glue a picture or object to each page and print the name of it below, after the words "night night." For example, "night night shoes," "night night blankie." The final page of the book could be a poem.

For example,

"Now it's time to say night night,

The sun has set, The moon is bright.

The stars are shining far away

And now you'll sleep until it's day!"

Bind the book by punching two or three holes along the left side of the pages and attaching the sheets together with safe, plastic, toddler links or metal rings.

Tip: To expand modernlanguage learning, write "Good night" in different languages on the pages, such as "Bonne nuit" (French) or "Buenos noches" (Spanish).

Donna Erickson's awardwinning television series "Donna's Day" airs on public television nationwide. Visit www.donnasday.com to find out when it airs on your local PBS station and to sign up for Donna's e-newsletter.

(c) 2008 Donna Erickson Distributed by King Features Synd.