I have loved books and reading for as long as I can remember and it is my hope to pass that on to our children! A few of the ways I am doing this are one simply having a quantity of quality books in our home, making time for personal reading to model the enjoyment of reading, and reading aloud age appropriate books from the time each child is very young. Baby number four also has the advantage of listening in when I read aloud to the older children; she is exposed to lots of reading aloud!
We do quite a bit of reading aloud around here. Of course during school time I read many books aloud; but I also commonly have a read aloud going at lunch time and in the evenings; plus I try to read individually to each child most days. My oldest gets chapterbooks, my middles get picture books and some sh0rt chapter book and the baby gets short board books.
I love board books for babies because they can play with them, sit on them, suck on them, bang them or whatever without causing too much damage! Over the years we have accumulated a nice little collection of board books, some of which I love much more than others. Here is a short list of some that really stand out to me. Some of these have been well loved and well worn and some of these are more recent additions, but they all have a certain quality and charm that make them especially appealing.
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes
I actually found this book at our local children’s consignment store shortly after my fourth baby was born. It is a sweet little rhyme all about babies and the ending is just precious. The illustrations are darling. This was the first book that baby girl showed interest in and it is still her favorite.
Little Blue Truck
This book was given to us as a gift when one of the boys was a baby and has been a favorite ever since. The cheerful, rollicking rhythm paired with bright, colorful illustrations never fail to grab the baby’s attention!
My First Songs
We have enjoyed several of Tomie dePaola’s other picture books so I was excited when this came in the mail as a part of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. It has just a few familiar songs along with the sweet illustrations. It is fun to read(or sing!) just one page when baby’s attention wanders.
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
We first checked this little book out from the library an it was so much fun! I have a tradition of getting each of the children a book for Christmas and this is the one I chose for baby’s first Christmas. This one has all the ingredients for a baby or little child to love; repetition, sound effects and cute illustrations.
Each Peach Pear Plum
I love this little book! The illustrations are colorful and whimsical, the text has a nice melodic rhythm and is full of references to common tales and nursery rhymes, plus the I spy is fun for little ones. This book is a bit advanced for the tiniest of babies, but older babies and toddlers will enjoy it.
Baby Animals
All my babies have loved simple books about animals and animal sounds. This one illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa is simply lovely. We have enjoyed some poetry books illustrated by her as well.
The Biggest Story ABC
This book is brand new to us. When I get up in the mornings I try to have my own quiet time to read my Bible. Well, often one or two of the children wake up early, so I have a few picture story Bibles on hand to read aloud to them. Lately the baby has been waking up super early almost every day and has been showing more interest in books., so I had started thinking of finding a Bible based board book safe for her little hands. Just last week a special speaker came to our church and had a book table. Well I was standing out in the foyer with a fussy baby and this book caught my eye. The text is short and simple, covering the basic gospel story and the illustrations are simply stunning! I also bought the fuller version for my older kiddos. I love both books so much.
I hope my list has inspired you to open up the world of books with your children all the way from the time they are little babies and introduced you to some new book ideas!
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