1) Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.
Start early and your child will love books. Introduce a few books as soon as your newborn is eating and sleeping well and within the first few weeks of birth. (Actually, I read aloud to my babies while they were still inside!) Choose a simple board book with high contrast pictures and simple text. Read it. Read it again. And again. Babies love routines and predictable, positive emotional patterns.
2) Interact, Interact, Interact.
A favorite, and visually stunning, early board book at our house was twinkle, twinkle! from the amazing baby series. At two, my littlest still clutches the book tightly, giving it hugs and kisses, and asking me to read it, once again. We always clap heartily at the end in celebration. The classic sing-song rhyme is one of his favorites… and who can resist a quick just-before-bed foray outside to gaze at the night stars in the darkness to sing it again together?
3) Bend. Pull. Chew.
Make a few board books part of baby’s earliest toy basket, and carry one or two in your diaper bag. Let baby bend, chew, pull-on, and play with the sturdy books, but beware the tenacious lil’ gummer who can actually eat the pages – you don’t want him to choke! Baby needs to feel and learn with all of his senses now; you can teach him to care properly for books when he is older.
4) Always Think: “Positive Experience.” Always Relax. Always Follow Baby’s Lead.
Baby’s associations with books must be positive during the first years of rapid physical brain development for a healthy emotional attachment to develop with books (and you!). Be patient. Smile. Play. Let baby hear your soothing or playful voice and words. Notice what baby is interested in and respond. Baby needs to associate a relaxed and happy feeling with books, not tension or fear, so choose a time when baby is alert and rested and you are relaxed and happy. Let baby pay attention and interact as he desires as a few moments shared happily is far better than more minutes of misery. Your job as parent is to patiently and lovingly offer books to your child’s happy world.
5) Buy a Few Great Board Books.
While our local library has a large selection of board books, I found it best to buy a few of baby’s favorites to read again and again. In addition, I checked out a few new books each week from the library for variety to complement our regular collection.
Features of Bes Books For Babies Under Age 1 –
Large photos of babies and baby faces.
Simple, large, bright pictures.
Very few words, or even one word, per page.
Familiar animals such as dogs, cats, birds, and fish.
Familiar items such as bottles, bathtubs, blankets, bears, books, and binkies.
Sound words such as “moo,” “baa-baa,” or “beep-beep.”
Rosas-Baby Board Book Faves That Earned Mini-Raves -
Good Night, Baby! (Funfax, DK Publishing)
Good Morning, Baby! (Funfax, DK Publishing)
Baby Faces (DK Publishing)
Baby Animals Black and White by Phyllis Limbacher Tildes
You Are My Perfect Baby by Joyce Carol Thomas
Show Me! by Tom Tracy
twinkle, twinkle!, clever color!, and five fish! by amazing babyTM
Moo, Baa, La, La, La by author Sandra Boynton (anything by Sandra Boynton)
6) Read. Read. Read.
Get into a reading habit early. Follow the literacy link to Twenty Minutes of Your Day for author Rosemary Wells’ eloquent must-read essay (see also other must-reads: Read to Your Bunny and Children at Risk). When my babies were very young, I read my books (whatever I was reading at the time) to them out loud just so they could hear the language, my voice, and the patterns of prose. I read lengthy Winnie-the-Pooh books and oodles and schmoodles of everyone’s-favorite-Doctor. My babies cooed, ooooo-ed, wiggled, and giggled, at the sounds of the patterns and rhymes. Follow the literacy link to Vocabulary by Age Four to learn more about research for empowering your children by giving them words.
Two important key points to remember:
1) Help your baby happily explore and love books. Make positive emotional connections between baby and books.
2) Let your baby hear the lilt and sounds of your voice as you share words, words, and more words together.
What are you waiting for? Get that precious baby, cozy up, and read!