How to read to your baby
May 18 '00
Among the best things a parent can do for a child is teach them to love books and reading. Attitude is everything in life, and a child who is eager to learn and explore through books has a huge advantage over those who are indifferent or hostile. But how do you get your children interested in books? For me, the answer was: start as soon as possible.
Newborn to 3 Months
You may not think it's possible to read to an infant, but it is! When they are so little they just love to hear the sound of your voice. So you can read anything to them and they will be happy. I used to read to my son when he was in his swing... I would put the newspaper on the floor and sit beside the swing, and read articles of interest to me out loud. He loved it! (As an aside, at this age they also love being held while you are talking on the phone, because they haven't yet figured out that you aren't talking to them!) If you remember the sweet movie Three Men and A Baby you may recall a scene in which Tom Selleck is reading Sports Illustrated to the baby girl they "adopted." I'm sure this scene was inspired by real life, because it really does work.
Towards the end of this phase, when the baby has a slightly longer attention span, you can snuggle them down into the crook of your arm and show them picture books, pointing to one or two things on each page and naming them. If their attention wanders, just let it go and enjoy the snuggling aspects.
Good books for this age: board books with photos of babies, like Baby's Toys or Goodnight, Baby!. These are two of my kids' favorites. Photographs are better at this age than illustrated books, because wee ones can't reason from the abstract to the concrete yet. A drawing may look like a cat to you, but chances are your baby will have no idea what it is.
3 to 6 months
During this stage your baby is learning how to sit up, and can often sit propped up or supported with a u-shaped pillow. This is a great age for board books. Leave them around where the baby can reach them. They will get chewed on, but the baby may also try to open them and turn the pages. They will definitely look at the pictures, too.
Now that they can sit up a little, you can hold them on your lap and try to actually "read" to them. Again, watch their attention, if it drifts, just let it go. If they want to turn the pages, let them. If they skip 3 pages at a time, no problem. The idea is not to teach them the "correct" way to read, but to interest them in books and reading in general.
I know several parents who say, "Well, I tried to read to her, but she was only interested in one or two pages and then threw the book down." That's OK at this age, in fact, at any age. Sometimes we just don't feel like reading! But with such wee ones, who have such limited attention and energy, you have to go slowly. Some times, they may be in the mood for you turn the pages, and they will see how it works. Other times they'll just be more interested in being with you and enjoying the closeness than the actual reading. All of this is more than OK. They are getting a lot of positives out of the whole reading experience.
Good books for this stage: Continue with the photograph-based board books, as all babies (and I do mean, all) love to look at other babies. Also add in simple illustrated board books, like Good Night, Moon (I can not praise that book highly enough) or the Teletubbies books (The Magic String, The Little Puffy Cloud) that have very simple stories. Illustrated books with longer stories typically will not hold a child's attention at this age. Save Guess How Much I Love You until they are at least a year, at this age it won't hold their attention. Pat the Bunny is a classic for this age group as well.
6 to 9 months
As your baby becomes mobile, you may find that his attention span for reading is less than it was previously. If he wiggles off your lap when you scoop him up for a reading session, let him go. Never let him feel that reading is a punishment!
At this stage it's important to respect their growing independence (at least, that's how they think about). Let them call the shots. If your baby brings you a book to read to her, take the 2 minutes out of your time and do it. (See my opinion on "Never ignore a crying child" for more on giving attention when it is requested.) It doesn't take very long at all to read the typical baby book, and those few minutes are so precious to your child.
Continuing...
By this time your baby will have manifested his personality pretty well. You will know whether or not your baby is a "ripper" or is one who will page carefully through books. Advice for this age depends on the type of baby you have! My son never ripped a book in his life; my daughter, on the other hand... you don't want to know!
If your child is not a ripper, you can let them leaf through family photo albums with you while you identify people they already know and remind them of past events. You can also tell them about people they haven't met yet, introduce family members, and tell "real life" stories about the people in the pictures. You can also do this if you have a "ripper", you just have to be a lot more careful. In this case you may even want to put together a small photo album that is the baby's, so you don't have to worry about your good photo albums being destroyed. You may think that looking through photo albums isn't "reading", but looking and listening are what reading is all about at this stage, and so it qualifies.
Other great possibilities are magazines and catalogs. Babies love to identify things and name them. We have had great fun with the Crate&Barrel catalog, naming plates, cups, spoons, etc. Parents magazine or any similar family-oriented publication that has lots of photos of babies and children will also appeal to them. Babies love to read magazines and catalogs because they see you doing it all the time, and they feel just like a grown-up! I wish I could recommend the newspaper, but the tendency is for the baby to get covered in black newsprint, so it can be difficult. Find a color section to give to the baby, as long as she isn't really into eating paper.
As they grow, you can start introducing more complex, fantasy books like Dr. Suess. I would stay away from Suess until they are at least a 18 months to 2 years old, since the Suess illustrations are for the most part completely unrelated to reality. Books with realistic illustrations (as opposed to photographs) can be terrific. Between about a year and 18 months, babies start to relate pictures of things to their real-life counterparts, and so they can enjoy these books.
At around 18 months (depending on personality) you can start introducing flap books. I have no idea where she gets them, but my mom has found a couple of flap books that are also board books, and these are my kids' favorites because they are the perfect size for little hands. The two titles are Grandpa's Haunted House, a Lift-a-Flap book from Landoll's, and Daniel and the Lions, a Bible story chunky flap book, from Random House. I heartily recommend books in these lines, if you can find them, as they are perfect for toddlers and pre-schoolers. Other flap books are likely to have short lives, because the flaps are too flimsy and get folded or ripped off very quickly.
As with anything else, observe your children and what they like and dislike. They may like pop-up books (most kids do), but are likely to destroy them if they are presented too early. If you have a dog or cat, books about dogs and cats may be great, as the baby will relate to them. If you let your baby come to reading gradually and in her own time, and have plenty of books or other material around for her to read, that's the best way to go. Each baby may have varying levels of interest, but every baby can learn to love reading with the right approach.
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Member: Joan Hedman
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