This post is for the #kbcKeepCalmAndReadOn Campaign.
I love reading and when Aryn was born I wanted him to be a avid reader as well so, I started reading to him when he was 2.5 months old. I used to read to him and he used to listen to me, we both loved this time together.
I loved mimicking sounds of various animals and this used to bring a smile to my baby’s face.
But then as he grew up and started moving, he was very easily distracted and wouldn’t let me read even a single page. He also started ripping off the flaps of various books. So at this time sound books came to my rescue.
I am making books easily accessible to my baby by keeping them next to toys and he distributes his time equally on books and toys.
So here goes the list of books my baby loves:
A stage came in our reading journey when it became very difficult for me to get attention for a few minutes from my baby because he was perpetually distracted by the surroundings. Whenever this stage comes do not fret or get discouraged; my only advice to you is to introduce sound books, puppet books and flip flap books this scenario.
Sound Books
Sound books come with buttons at various places in the book which baby learns very easily to press. These books can be easily used to ensure that your mobile-on-the-go-toddler is hooked on to one place for some time. I also feel that since baby is given control to press the buttons he enjoys pressing the same again and again. I love the expression on my son’s face when he presses a button & sound plays, All it communicates to me is,
“See maa I pressed the button myself and music filled the room.”
Also, sound books help in developing fine motor skills of the baby.
1. Polar Bear, Polar Bear what do you hear: there is a non sound version of this book also available but then we thought of buying sound version because it’s more engaging. This book has an image of each animal spanning across two pages and sounds of all the animals are very melodious.
2. If you are happy and you know it by Igloo books: This a rhyme which my baby loves and whenever we press the sound button of this book he claps. It’s a good way to engage with baby where you can clap, stomp and spin around while singing this rhyme. It will also teach baby various body movements.
3. Old McDonald had a farm by Brown Watson: Again a very popular rhyme which will help in engaging with the baby as you will be mimicking various animal sounds. This book will play only the tune of Old McDonald had a farm and no animal sound but you can engage with the baby for long by mimicking sounds of lots of animals like dog, cow, sheep, pig, turkey, duck, horse, chicken.
4. Wheels on the bus by Igloo books : My baby loves to press the buttons to listen to the horn, bell and engine sounds.
5. Farm Hullaballoo by Ladybird : This book is for little grown ups which I realised after buying the book, but still it’s a good story book illustrating the farm life and various animals on the farm. Also my baby loves pressing the buttons to listen to the animal sounds.
Puppet books
These books come with pop up puppets which will make story telling and reading out aloud very engaging. You can make puppets do various actions and get attention from your baby. Most of the kids love soft toys so it can be your best bet to invest in puppet books to engage with the little one and make reading time more fun filled.
Trust me your baby will sit at one place to observe the actions of the puppet.
6. Curious George Pat a Cake: It’s based on the famous rhyme by the name pat a cake. My baby loves this book as it comes with the cuddly puppet whom you can make clap and sing along. It’s fun for parents as well.
7. Teddy’s Happy Home: My baby loves to play with the teddy puppet in this book. It is for little elder kids who are at the stage where they are learning to count. On every page there is some question for the kids like how many brushes do you see in teddy’s bathroom? I had kept this book in the corner thinking my one year old is too small for this one, but one day he picked it up and now we both play with teddy and he also points out at a few objects and animals across the book like duck, cat, sparrow, apple and tooth brush.
8. Chilly Penguin Loves to Play by igloo books: This book talks about a penguin and how he goes about his day. It introduces baby to animals that are found in arctic region like whale, seals and seagulls, etc. You are instructed to make penguin puppet say whee, giggle and blow bubbles.
Lift a flap books
Lift a flap books help you create a sense of surprise on each and every page and help in making baby get hooked on to the book. These books arouse the curiousity in the babies to figure out what comes next. It’s a good way to play with baby while reading to them. These books help them to explore, focus on the flap, reach out to lift the flap and help in developing fine motor skills.
9. Brown bear Brown bear what do you see by Eric Carle: It’s a amazing book with big engaging pics of animals which are spanning across pages. Baby loves to flip the flaps to see which animal is there on the next page.
10. Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell: My baby loves to lift the flap to discover each animal the zoo has sent – elephant, lion , monkey and so on.
11. Where is the baby’s belly button by Karen Katz: Good book to teach names of various body parts to babies. The book has easy to lift flaps.
12. Peekaboo Boo Park with Emily Bolam: It’s a bilingual book in Spanish and English. I got this as a gift with the set of pre-loved books that I had ordered for the baby. I ignored it and then one fine day I just opened it and really liked the beautiful images below the flaps. On each flap you will be asked to make a sound of animal and ask baby who is it. Quack Quack …Who is it and when baby lifts a flap a beautiful duck will be there.
Other books:
13. The very hungry caterpillar by Eric Carle: It is one of the first books that I introduced to my baby. It talks about the lifecycle of the butterfly. It has beautiful illustrations, an amazing story and lots of lessons for kids.
14. Pooni Pooni Where Are You by Manjula Padmanabhan : This is a book about a girl named Minnie who is upset because she isn’t able to find her pet cat named Pooni. This book is fun when you sing along and change the pitch of your voice to bring both Pooni and Minnie to life.
15 Goodnight moon by Margaret Wise Brown : Our favourite sleep book which is always there by our bedside. The book’s story is set in a room and it’s very engaging. You will really love to say goodnight to every single object in the room from the red balloon to the picture of cow jumping over the moon.
I would say these books can engage your baby from 0-3 years. This is just the beginning, and I hope I am able to raise a person who enjoys reading.
[Note from Team Kids Book Café: For your convenience, affiliate links (MARKED IN PINK) to some of the books have been added to enable you to buy the books from AMAZON, should you wish to! A very small amount of money comes to kidsbookcafe.com when you purchase a book via the amazon affiliate link provided (at no extra cost to you!). Do let us know if you need information about other children’s books by writing to asha@kidsbookcafe.com.]
