Your infant can read.
How reading can enrich your child's growing up years, I only got to know after I became a mother. I started reading books to Veer when he was not even 6 months old and I was clueless that this will help him so much to express himself. At 16 months, Veer was quite comfortable expressing himself through words. After that I could only see the graph of his speech and expression moving upward.Â
This made me realize that there is no right age to start reading books to kids. You can start them as early as you want, but certainly not late. Because when a child is out of his mother's womb, the brain starts recording everything.Â
"Researchers have figured out that baby look into the caregiver's eye until 4 months and shifts to your lip movement when they turn 6 months. It is their first step towards forming words."
A friend of mine, Kakoli, shared her daughter's books with me for Veer, as she outgrew that age of toddler books. That was Veer's first introduction to books. His favorites were "This Little Piggy" "Farmer Mickey", "Moo, Baa, La La La", "The Going to the Bed Book", and "Minnie and Dancing Troupe".
I noticed his growing interest in books and started exploring the world of toddler's book and found it huge. There are all sorts of books in the bookstores such as bathing books, board books
, puppet books, musical books, teething books, touch and feel books and the list is endless. Sanjeev and I made a conscious choice and serious effort to read him all kinds of baby books and set a small library for him. And every time Sanjeev traveled for his official commitments, he got a book that introduced him to a different culture. When you read to your child at an early stage, you are just not giving vocabulary, you give a perspective also. It develops the creativity and enhances their imagination.Â
Reading to an infant or a toddler have several benefits and a study confirms that reading together strengthens the bond between a child and a parent. It can be a journey for you as well along with the baby.
At 2, I enrolled him for a small story telling group, Kathakalpa, near our home. It is a great initiative by Laila to introduce kids to stories and beautiful baby songs, enacted by herself and her 5 year old daughter Nandana. Along with this, she also runs a library service for kids aged between 2 months and 12 years. I would have never ended Veer's association with Kathakalpa if we were not moving to Singapore.Â
Making infants comfortable with the idea of those beautiful words, language, rhythm, will help them develop love for books. It is a gradual process and blooms slowly. You will not even realise when your routine became your baby's habit. And if you think that your baby might not like books, then you think again and try introducing them to the right kind of books. Books are just like playing with their favorite toys. As kids remember their favorite toy, if you give them the right and their kind of books then they can be their favorite too.
Veer and I on one afternoon reading "The Magic Box".
These 9 types of books are highly recommended for parents of an infant. Please see all the books marked in red are from Veer's personal collection. Click it to see the content:
Touch and Feel Books help babies feel the texture of a creature or a plant and develop their sensory skills. This might help you as a parent to see what texture your child likes more: a soft fur of the sheep or a rough roof of the train. Some popular ones are Ten Little Ladybugs, Alphaprints 123, First 100 Words, That's not my Train , Chica Chica Boom Boom.
Finger Puppet Books are kids favorite as they find the puppet moving and enacting very amusing. Some popular finger puppet books are Charlie the Sheepdog, Little Five Monkeys, Little Crab/Fish/Frog/Puppy/Giraffe, Old Macdonald had a Farm.
Squishy Sound/Cloth Books are suggested for babies as they are soft and entertaining. And as kids are in the habit of taking everything in their mouth esp. during teething, these books are harmless. Though there are specially designed teething books too in the market, but I have never used them so it is up to you. Some of known books are Cuddly Bunny/Duck/Elephant/Monkey, Goodnight Baby, Whose Feet, Animal for Kids, 123 Numbers.
Pocket Sized Books are cute and easy to carry along in your baby bag. Will not take much space and help you engage your baby during a journey. They are easily available in local supermarkets. I took a lot of them from D-Mart, Hyderabad. Some very regular but useful pocket sized books are Action Words and Peppa Pig Series, Little Mouse, Colors, Shapes.Â
Peek-a-Boo Books are loved by kids immensely. As the name says Peek-A-Boo, the books hides some pictures and as a reader you have to perform an action for your baby to bring it up. Some engaging ones are Farm Peek-a-Boo, Bedtime Peeek-a-Boo, Bathtime Peek-a-Boo, Things That Go.
Musical Books are a wonderful engagement for kids as well as mothers. They keep the kids engage while mothers can complete their pending tasks. It could be an unfinished task of office, attending a call (though it could be bit noisy as the book is musical), cleaning the dishes, or preparing a meal. Some of them are Old MacDonald and other Play Along Songs, Moo on the Farm, Honk on the Road.Â
Animal Books are wonderful to introduce your babies to different animals on this planet. Make them more familiar with the four legged beings and their habits. This will definitely help them grow compassionate and sensitive towards them. There are many available in the book stores, but Veer loved "Molly the Cat" from "My Little Friends"series and "Panda" from "Who am I?" series
3D books is a wonderful concept where many layers are given to picture to give the 3D effect. Some books open in a 3D format to give magic like effect. Fast Forward Danny Dumper, The Magic Box, Noah's Ark 3D-Pop Ups,Various Shapes and Number Books.
Lift the Flap Books is an extension of Peek-a-Boo books but differently designed. They make learning more fun and interactive and encourage toddlers to make an effort to play with the book. Some flap books are Bard's Rhyme Time by Baby Einstein, Spot's Big Lift-the-Flap Book by Eric Hill, UsBorne's Children Book.
Hope next time you are out for movie or a lunch you will pick up books for your precious little ones. Ensure that your selection of books should have:
Board or cloth base so that book cannot hurt babies.
Rounded or curled corners to safeguard them from edgy corners.
Big pictures and clear expressions.
One word or a small sentence on a pag
Happy Reading!