Reading with Babies and Toddlers {Part 1}

I started reading to my son (Gorilla) when he was only a few weeks old. Maybe that sounds unnecessary, but for me it was a really natural thing to do. I love reading, and I especially love great children's literature. So it was fun and exciting for me to start sharing books with him at that early age.

The way that we read together has changed and evolved as he has grown, as I know it will continue to do so throughout his childhood. But my purpose in reading with him has remained the same: I hope to help him discover his own love and appreciation for good books.

Today I want to share some of the things that worked for us while while reading with Gorilla as a baby.

Keep it Simple
When I first started reading with Gorilla, it was really just another way for us to sit together and pass the time. Reading out loud allowed him to hear the sound of my voice, and it gave me words to say to him. I selected books that I enjoyed reading and sometimes we only made it through a page or two before we moved onto something else.

Grandma and Gorilla, 2 months old

Over time as his senses became more developed, his attention span increased and he began to focus more on the pictures. At this stage, I found that simple books were really the best books for us. Gorilla was engaged by short text, interesting sounds, and clear, bold illustrations.

From the DK Baby Touch and Feel Series: Things That Go

There are quite a few board books out there with illustrations that are mostly black and white or"high-contrast." This style of illustration is said to be especially stimulating and appropriate for a baby's developing eyesight. Hello, Bugs! is one of our favorite high-contrast books, with patterned text that is a springboard for adding movement and sounds into the story.

For example, on the page that says "Hello, Worm!" there are also words that say "wiggle, wiggle." So when I read it, I would wiggle his fingers or toes, or wiggle my finger around and then give him some tickles. Connecting the text to simple actions and sounds can be an enjoyable and fun sensory experience for even very young babies.

Make it a Routine
The easiest way to make sure you read every day is to make it a part of a daily routine. Once Gorilla was out of the newborn stage and sleeping on more of a schedule, I decided to make reading part of his going-to-sleep routine for both naps and bedtime. This is still our routine and it has worked really well for us. But I would be lying if I didn't say that sometimes I purposefully read very short books or even only a few pages because we are both cranky and need sleep fast. :)

For bedtime stories, I typically rotate 2-3 books specifically about going to sleep at night. My personal favorite is A Book of Sleep because I love the unique illustrations.

My husband's favorite is Good Night Gorilla, and now our little Gorilla requests this book frequently, not just at bedtime, and likes to read it over and over again. (Thus his nickname...)

Repetition Promotes Learning and Familiarity
As adults, it can feel very tiresome to read the same book over and over again. But young children often thrive on repetition to learn and build upon their understanding. Along with that, the familiarity of a favorite book or toy can be very comforting and relaxing to a child.  I honestly only read a handful of books to Gorilla during his first 6+ months because we read the same books over and over again every day. As he got older, he would show signs of excitement when I would pull out the same stories and, more often than not, those same books held his attention longer than a brand new story. The funny thing is, some of these books are still among his favorites today!

In addition to the books already listed, some of those early favorite books included:

Peek-a-Who

Baby Touch and Feel Cuddly Animals
Note: One thing I like about this series of "touch and feel" books is that it uses real photographs, which help to promote more concrete connections between pictures and real life objects during the infant and toddler years. I like to use many board books from Priddy Books for that same reason.

Aloha Zoo

Touch, Explore, and Play with Books
It wasn't long before Gorilla wanted to reach out and touch the books we were reading. As his motor skills developed, this went from tapping and touching the pages, to turning the pages back and forth, to opening and closing the book. At this point, I was glad that we were using good quality board books so that I could let him explore the book without worrying about ripping pages. The only thing I didn't let him do was eat the book. If he started doing that, we would stop reading or I would find him something else to chew on while we read. :)

Sometimes I had to remind myself that it was okay to not finish or even read the actual story every time we sat down with a book. Turning to the same page 3 times or closing the book again and again is all part of his learning experience.  If he showed interest in a page by touching it, I would stop and find ways to talk more about that page. At times this meant that we weren't really sitting down to read at all, we were just playing and interacting with the book together- and that was great!

As Gorilla became more mobile and independent, I tried to be patient and let his natural interests lead the way in our reading time together, which is something I talk more about in the next post- reading with toddlers.