Books for Babies
Early literacy is a journey. From prenatal to preschool, your child will develop early literacy skills and experience important milestones along the way. There are many ways you can promote early literacy in your household and enhance their development. It does not need to be challenging or complicated. I can provide you with 5 easy and straightforward ways to encourage reading with your early learner.
1. Fill your baby’s first library with lots and lots of sensory books! Sensory books can include elements such as lift-the-flap, textures, sounds, scratch and sniff, etc. These elements can help build a baby's self-awareness and drive to explore. In addition, they can strengthen muscles and dexterity, which is important for overall physical development. Dexterity affects how a child learns to turn a page, hold a pencil, and type on a keyboard. Finally, sensory elements are fun and encourage reading in an engaging and intimate way.
2. Use board books and felt books! These formats are generally more durable and are easier to manipulate with tiny fingers than paper can be. Board books and felt books can help a baby master their dexterity and muscle movements. Turning a page is the first step in navigating a book. Babies love to explore their environment with all of their senses, including taste. Books like the "Indestructibles" are great because they allow for babies to do their exploring without destroying the book and/or causing harm to the baby!
3. Read books that have nursery rhymes or sing favorite songs! Nursery rhymes are a fun way to understand and learn a language. Rhyming helps with memory, repetition, and letter and word recognition. Rhymes can also help with more complex language elements like syllables, which comes later in the literacy journey.
4. Point to words and letters you read! While you read, make sure and point to the individual letters and words you read to your baby. Although it might not seem like your baby is identifying these words, they are observing more than you know. Pointing to our words as we read them is an important part of future identification of sight words. Word and letter recognition is one of the most important steps in the early literacy journey. You must first identify the letter “D” before you can read the word “Dog”. Try reading books with one word pages, usually sight words.
5. Read books with interactive elements! Interactive elements can include things like finding hidden objects or animals throughout the pages or physically moving the book like shaking or lifting a flap. Books with interactive qualities can help develop concentration and engagement in your early reader, as well as the dexterity and muscle development I mentioned earlier. In addition, they are super fun! They help foster a love for reading and books.
You'll notice that many of these books include multiple early literacy elements that benefit reading development. Baby books usually include sensory qualities, are typically board books, and involve interactive details. You can't go wrong! These little bits and pieces of a book can look insignificant, but they can greatly enhance your baby’s early literacy development. These books are also wonderful for toddlers and preschoolers too! Sensory elements, board and felt books, nursery songs, pointing to letters and words, and interactive features are easy ways to encourage and support your baby in the beginning of their early literacy journey.
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