Lizzi Ogle – Tremont District Library 1 Early Literacy Tip Tuesday September 29 th – E verything B oard B ooks 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 Boar d 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. D id 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, a nd beaten up T his gets rid of the fear of damaging a bo ok too much and lets you focus on reading time and bonding time with your child. Reading any book to your baby i s 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 Bo oks are made with this in mind! My Animal s 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 a nd 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 Boo k (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 ch ild’s attention span. Try out classics like Brown Bear, Brown Bea r , The Very Hungry Caterpilla r , or Guess How Much I Love Yo u . Or checkout some newer characters like Mo Willem’s t he Pigeon or Molly Idle’s F lora in their own B oard B ook series ’ Storytime with your toddler can also be used as teaching time. Books like Voices are Not for Yellin g and Clean - Up Tim e 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 featur es toddlers caring for toddler - like creature s such as bathing a dinosaur, or brushing a crocodile’s t eeth. 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. T hese 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! A nother series th a t 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! I f you want to learn more about how to incorporate reading into the youngest of reader ’ s lives, or find more board b ooks for your family , check out the links in the description. T hank you all for joining me for another E arly L iteracy T ip T uesday, see you next week ! Book/Media Recommendations: My Animal s by Xavier Deneu x Hello, Bugs ! and Hello, Animals ! by S mriti Prasada m The Babies and Doggies Boo k by John Schindel and Molly Woodwar d Brown Bear, Brown Bea r by Bill Martin Jr. The Very Hungry Caterpilla r by Eric Carl e Guess How Much I Love Yo u by Sam McBratne y The Pigeon Has Feelings, Too ! and The Pigeon Love s Things That Go ! by Mo Willem s Flora and the Ostric h and Flora and the Chick s by Molly Idl e Toddler Tools and Best Behavior Series by Elizabeth Verdic k How To... Series by Jane Clark e Lizzi Ogle – Tremont District Library 4 Hello, World! Series by Jill McDonal d Colorful World Series by Nastja Hol tfrete r Articles for more information : https://www.highlights.com/parents/articles/baby - lit - 10 1 https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books - and - reading/reading - resources/developing - reading - skills/why - babies - need - boo ks.htm l https://happilyeverelephants.com/home/best - board - book s