Vocalization play in crib gives way to enjoyment of rhyming language, nonsense word play, etc
Understands how books are held
Enters into a book-sharing routine with primary caregivers
Labels objects in books
Comments on characters in books
Looks at a picture in a book and realizes it is a symbol for real object
Listens to stories
Requests/commands adult to read or write
May begin attending to specific print such as letters in names
Uses increasingly purposive scribbling
Occasionally distinguishes between drawing and writing
Produces some letter like forms and scribbles with some features of English writing

Age 3 to 4 Accomplishments:

Knows that alphabet letters are a special category of visual graphics that can be individually named
Knows that it is the print that is read in stories
Understands that different text forms are used for different functions of print (e.g., list for groceries)
Pays attention to separable and repeating sounds in language (e.g., “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater”)
Uses new vocabulary and grammatical constructions in own speech
Understands and follows oral directions
Is sensitive to sequences of events in stories
When being read a story, connects information and events to life experiences
Displays reading and writing attempts, calling attention to self: "Look at my story."
Can identify 10 alphabet letters, especially those from own name
"Writes" (scribbles) as part of playful activity
May begin to attend to beginning or rhyming sound in salient words

From Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, Catherine E. Snow, M. Susan Burns, and Peg Griffin, Editors. Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children, National Research Council.