Lizzi Ogle – Tremont District Library 1 Early Literacy Tip Tuesday September 29th – Everything Board Books Hi everyone and welcome back to another Early Literacy Tip Tuesday! Throughout the course of this series we are discussing the Five Practices of Early Literacy: Talking, Singing, Reading, Writing, and Play. So far we’ve covered Parentese, Baby Sign Language, how to ask your child better questions, how children learn with music and how reading aloud can help grow these literacy skills. Today we’ll keep talking about the Practice of Reading with a discussion on Board Books! Let’s start with how board books are made and how that makes them perfect first books for our babies and toddlers. Board books are chunky and have thick pages so even little fingers that are still learning how to read, can read them. Did you know most board books are designed so that when you turn one page, it automatically starts lifting the next page? This is on purpose so that little fingers can get ahold of those pages and move on. Board books are sturdy and can handle being thrown around, chewed on, and beaten up. This gets rid of the fear of damaging a book too much and lets you focus on reading time and bonding time with your child. Reading any book to your baby is a great way to bond with them, but let’s talk about some specific Board Books that are great for different ages and readers. Infant vision develops rapidly in the first two years of life. When babies are first born, they are still learning to process all the visual stimulation they are experiencing. They can focus best on objects 8-12inches away from them, but don’t have very good depth perception skills. Most objects are blurry and colors are not as vivid, so decorations and books with high contrast in colors are best. Around 5-8 months, babies start to hone their depth perception skills and begin seeing colors more clearly. High contrasting colors are still a big hit for this age. Many beginner Board Books are made with this in mind! My Animals by Xavier Deneux features black and white illustrations Lizzi Ogle – Tremont District Library 2 with pops of solid color. More favorites in this style include Smriti Prasdam’s Hello, Bugs! and Hello, Animals!. Infants continue to develop their depth and color perception and hand-eye coordination as they grow. They are also recognizing and remembering the world they live in. Books that feature objects, animals, or people that Baby sees everyday will be a hit. One of my favorites that I know is a hit with young animal lovers is The Babies and Doggies Book (John Schindel & Molly Woodward). This book features delightful pictures of babies and doggies and their many similarities. As infants get older they also gain the ability to listen to and enjoy an actual story. Board Book versions of picture books are great because they are still in the hardier format and contain less material better suited to the child’s attention span. Try out classics like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, or Guess How Much I Love You. Or checkout some newer characters like Mo Willem’s the Pigeon or Molly Idle’s Flora in their own Board Book series’. Storytime with your toddler can also be used as teaching time. Books like Voices are Not for Yelling and Clean-Up Time are great for teaching beginner life skills. Both of these books are by Elizabeth Verick and have others in their series that are great for teaching toddler life lessons. Another new series we just added here at Tremont Library is the “How To…” series by Jane Clarke. This series features toddlers caring for toddler- like creatures such as bathing a dinosaur, or brushing a crocodile’s teeth. They are great for relating activities that toddlers do in their own lives! Toddlers are also naturally curious about the world around them. The Hello, World! series by Jill McDonald is one of my favorite Board Book series for curious kids. These books feature toddler relevant facts and kids will be excited to point out what they already know and then point what they’ve learned in these books in real life. Lizzi Ogle – Tremont District Library 3 Interactive Board Books are also a great way to get young readers reading. Touch and Feel books, books with Flaps, and Fingertrail books are great for sensory development. There are so many examples of each of these types of books, checkout the links in the description to find new ones for your family! Another series that is great for engaging young reader’s minds and thinking skills is the Colorful World series by Nastja Holtfreter. These books feature “one of these things is not like the other” questions for young readers to ponder and think about. Board books are the first step babies and toddlers take in their reading lives and it’s great that there are so many great options out there that we can provide them with! If you want to learn more about how to incorporate reading into the youngest of reader’s lives, or find more board books for your family, check out the links in the description. Thank you all for joining me for another Early Literacy Tip Tuesday, see you next week! Book/Media Recommendations: My Animals by Xavier Deneux Hello, Bugs! and Hello, Animals! by Smriti Prasadam The Babies and Doggies Book by John Schindel and Molly Woodward Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney The Pigeon Has Feelings, Too! and The Pigeon Loves Things That Go! by Mo Willems Flora and the Ostrich and Flora and the Chicks by Molly Idle Toddler Tools and Best Behavior Series by Elizabeth Verdick How To… Series by Jane Clarke Lizzi Ogle – Tremont District Library 4 Hello, World! Series by Jill McDonald Colorful World Series by Nastja Holtfreter Articles for more information: https://www.highlights.com/parents/articles/baby-lit-101 https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/reading- resources/developing-reading-skills/why-babies-need-books.html https://happilyeverelephants.com/home/best-board-books
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