Babies and Books

July 03, 2012

It may seem surprising that even though babies cannot read, MCPL delights in having them involved in the Summer Reading Program. MCPL knows what smart parents, educators, and researchers know; it is never too early to start reading to your children.

Reading to your baby develops a special bond between parent and child by providing a chance for cuddling and closeness. It also instills a love of books; introduces sounds, words, and language; stimulates the imagination; and increases vocabulary. Reading to your child boosts brain development. While you are reading to and cuddling with your baby, the brain is working intensely connecting neurons and establishing learning pathways with lifelong positive effects.

MCPL has a special category in its Summer Reading Program for Listeners—children 0-6 years. Listeners earn incentives each time he or she logs 24 books completed. Just think of all those brain neurons getting fired up!

What should you read to your baby? Babies respond to the rhythm and cadence of your voice. The musicality that flows from Mother Goose poems is always a good choice. Babies enjoy bright colors, faces, and photos of other babies. They like books that are interesting to look at and touch. Toddlers enjoy books with fold-out sections or lift up flaps with surprises underneath.

Reading to your baby is a wonderful way to say, "I love you." Give your baby the best possible start in life by reading together every day. MCPL has many resources to help parents open the world of reading to their baby. Listed below are some book suggestions available at MCPL.

Baby's Lap Book by Kay Chorao
Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton
Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo by Kevin Lewis
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Here Are My Hands by Bill Martin
Hide-and-Seek: A Lift-The-Flap Book with Over 50 Flaps! by Rosemary Wells
Itsy Bitsy Spider by Lorianne Siomades
Look at the Baby by Kelly Johnson
My Very First Mother Goose edited by Iona Archibald Opie
Peek-a-Moo by Marie Torres Cimarusti
That's Not My Donkey... (or other titles in the Usborne Touchy-Feely series) by Fiona Watt
Twinkle, Twinkle: An Animal Lover's Mother Goose by Bobbi Fabian

~Sandi V.
Parkville Branch