Littlest ones will ‘chews’ books they like the best
BY ALTHEA PETERSON World Staff Writer
Monday, February 04, 2013
2/04/13 at 7:49 AM
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There are reasons why you should start reading to your child as soon as they're able to focus their attention span for a few moments: Bonding time, vocabulary development and fostering a lifelong love of reading, to name a few.
It's really cute to watch them turn the pages and get excited.
The best baby books have colorful artwork, not too many words (wordy books don't hold her attention as long as fast turning pages) and thick, cardboard pages (teething babies tend to chew the books they love most). Books that have interactive lift-the-flap and touch-and-feel features are just a bonus.
Here are some of my 10-month-old daughter's favorite books so far:
"Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?": by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle.
A board book with vibrant, colorful illustrations, this book is basically one big poem with short lines between the next character (Example: "Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? I see a red bird looking at me! Red bird...").
My daughter loves this book so much that she has taken over page turning and will seek out this book among her toys. She will sit (and perhaps demand) multiple readings all at once and seems disappointed when it is over each time.
"The Foot Book: Dr. Seuss's Wacky Book of Opposites": by Dr. Seuss.
Another board book that uses rhymes to retain your budding reader's attention.
This book also has enough words on each page to qualify as reading, but also few enough words that mom can keep up as she excitedly turns the pages.
And, on the oft chance that mom gets behind, making up new "feet" words can also be fittingly fun.
"Toes, Ears, & Nose! A Lift-the-Flap Book": by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by Karen Katz.
This board book survived my thieving dogs, who thought they found a new chew toy. That should tell you how sturdy they make baby books these days!
The most appealing part about this book is that in addition to turning the pages, my baby can also lift flaps to unveil more words. After the first few readings of me lifting the flaps, my daughter quickly caught on that she could do this part on her own.
The flaps unveil different body parts covered by clothing or glasses ("Inside my boots I've got" (lift the flap) "TOES").
Unfortunately, the flaps themselves aren't also made of thick board paper, so be careful if your overenthusiastic reader tries to lift the flaps too aggressively.
Please give me recommendations for future baby reading!
Althea Peterson 918-581-8361
althea.peterson@tulsaworld.com
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