Books for Babies

Why Babies Need Books
Reading to babies helps them develop their listening skills. Each time you read to babies, connections are being made in their brains - combining sounds, facial expressions and actions - until word comprehension begins! Allowing babies to manipulate the books themselves helps them develop their motor and hand/eye coordination. And it is never to early to encourage a love of reading!

Choosing Books for Babies
* Babies respond not so much to words as to rhythms, so rhyming books or those with a strong sense of rhythm are ideal.
* Choose books with illustrations that are brightly colored on a plain background. Babies respond especially to illustrations of familiar items such as faces, toys, foods and pets.
* Cloth and board books are good choices, because they hold up to teeth and drool!

Tips for Reading to Babies
* Read with expression! Varying your tone, volume and speed will help keep baby focused.
* Repeat, repeat, repeat! Babies enjoy hearing things more than once.
* Keep reading activities short and fun! If baby begins chewing on page three, don't get frustrated - keep up the conversation and turn the page when you can.
* If baby becomes unhappy, fussy or whiny, move on to another activity. Ten minutes of reading happily is better than 20 minutes of reading unhappily!
* Point to familiar objects and identify them, using baby's name when appropriate.

Suggested books:
Minneapolis Hennepin County Library - Newborn to Six Months
Greensboro, NC Library
Kentucky Department of Libraries
Baby Be Loved
Best Books for Baby's Early Sensory Development
Pittsburgh Gazette