To help preschoolers make deep connections with literature, you can read books to them on their favorite topics. Young children often find stories about families, siblings, animals and transportation appealing. Choose books that have a substantial story rather than those that simply picture members of a category. For example, a child may like looking through a book of cat photos, but he or she will be drawn into the story of "Puss in Boots" and identify with the main characters.
Picture books are wonderful for preschoolers to look at, but you can draw them into books even more by acting them out. Storytelling uses the tale to create a bond between performer and listener. Choose a book that has a few vibrant characters for whom you can develop voices and actions. Classic stories work well for this, such as "Rumplestiltskin." Puppets are another entertaining alternative to narrate the story or act it out. Once the kids have seen the performance, spend some time reading the book to reinforce the literature.
Preschoolers love to become personally involved with the stories in books. You can engage them in predicting what will happen next. Read a story and omit the last word in some of the sentences, letting the kids figure it out. For example, "The dog chewed the ____." You can periodically stop at exciting parts in the story and ask preschoolers to guess what happens next.
Young children enjoy hearing stories again and again. Take advantage of that by rereading their favorites. Though you might become tired of the story, preschoolers love knowing what to expect and look forward to what's ahead. Ask them to tell you will happen next. Eventually they'll memorize the book and tell it with you. When that happens, you can even have them take over, telling you the story.
Preschoolers are physical, so it's always good to get them moving. Have the children act out parts of the book as you read. For example, in the classic tale "The Three Billy Goats Gruff," kids might imitate the goats crossing the bridge. Preschoolers also love hands-on art projects, so let them draw, paint or create something related to the literature. For example, ask them to paint a scene from the story that they find interesting, such as the troll lurking under the bridge.