New Rochelle Library Now Has Children's Books That Read Themselves

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — In addition to frequently scheduled story times in the reading room and a vast selection of children's books to take home, the New Rochelle Public Library now has a selection of books that read themselves to your kids available.

The New Rochelle Public Library announced that it now has Wonderbooks, a new collection of read-along books for children and families. A Wonderbook is a print book with a ready-to-play audiobook inside. The unique storybooks are designed to offer an engaging and powerful literacy tool for preschoolers and early readers.

"The experience of both seeing and hearing words at the same time has been demonstrated to improve reading success rates," the library's Head of Children’s Services Robert Simic said. "In the past, if you wanted to listen to a read-along book, you had to play a CD on a separate device, and then open the book to read along. This has now been combined into one easy to use book. All a child needs to do is open a Wonderbook, press play, and turn the page."

The 78-book collection at the library includes picture books, early readers, first chapter/young readers and nonfiction titles. Each book also comes with discussion questions at the end, prompted by the narrator, to help children process what they’ve read.

Funding for the collection was made possible by the New Rochelle Public Library Foundation.

"We are grateful to the Foundation for making these wonderful books available in our community," New Rochelle Public Library Director Tom Geoffino said. "Each year the Foundation raises funds which allow us to bring enriching materials, like Wonderbooks, and programs into the Library."

Wonderbooks may be borrowed by Westchester Library System (WLS) cardholders for 3 weeks. Books must be checked out at the main branch of the New Rochelle Public Library or WLS cardholders can place them on hold and pick them up at either the main branch of the library, or the Huguenot Children’s Library.

Learn more about the New Rochelle Public Library here.