NEW YORK - ColoradoDesk -- All dressed for preschool and kindergarten and nowhere to go is the new reality this fall for many 3 to 5-year olds, but a new website called ROSIE READER wants to encourage children (and their adults) to travel, without ever leaving home.

"There's an opportunity to engage with children's books in a more in-depth way," says Maria Coder, mom to 3-year-old Rosie. "Our activities have vanished, our playdates are gone, but a good book and our imagination can fill our days with adventures."

RosieReader.com features one main book every few days, which it then builds book-inspired activities around. Each story is reviewed (as relayed) by 3-year-old Rosie, with added insight from Mom. Each feature comes with three types of complementary resources:

• Printables: These include free downloadable worksheets like letter tracing, dot-to-dots, coloring pages, drawing and cutting practice, and more.
• Craft or instructional video: Each featured book inspires a craft or a skill set. The craft videos are made using items parents are likely to already have in their home, like an empty toilet paper roll; and offer various alternatives – if construction paper isn't available for a project, a crayon and plain paper will suffice. No hole punch? An adult could poke paper with a screw driver. As for the instructionals, a video could teach a child a new sentence in a foreign language, like Spanish – since Rosie's Mom is Bilingual.
• Book-inspired play: A play-based activity is created for each featured book. Things like sensory bins, matching games, and others are all part of the fun. Plus each activity comes with child-friendly illustrated instructions so that a child who cannot yet read may interpret the activity and lead the way.

In addition to the activities that support the main featured book, the site also includes a section called Snapshots, with short and snappy reviews that each come with one ­­­­activity. A Bookmark section will have various articles and listicles, like the inaugural piece on books that help parents open a discussion about the pandemic and the importance of wearing a mask.

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Coder, a former journalist turned publicist, hopes to build a community of avid and engaged young readers with simple newsletters, free holiday activity books, and lots of giveaways. Her goal is to create a place that's for little readers, largely created by her own little reader, and have it add value to parents who suddenly find themselves homeschooling, as well as teachers seeking additional free resources to use in virtual classes or offline classrooms. She's also hoping the watercolor imagery and simplicity of her website will create a moment of respite for adults.

"Adults have a daunting task, particularly right now," she said. "Rosie and I hope to bring a dash of creativity to help make the chaos and distance learning more manageable."

About ROSIE READER
ROSIE READER is a website that creates literary adventures for children ages 3 to 5. For more information visit https://www.RosieReader.com and follow Rosie Likes It on social media.