• Reading to children is crucial to their development for so many reasons.  It promotes a lifelong love of reading for one.  It helps your child build a robust vocabulary for another.  In fact, your child may start school at a disadvantage if they are not read to at home.  What you read is also important.  Choosing age-appropriate books that challenge your child based on their developmental stage will help them with pre-literacy skills, as well as develop other skills like fine-motor, communication, and thinking skills.  These latter skills are cultivated by your child learning to turn a page, repeating sounds, pointing to objects on a page, and following a narrative. 

  Here are some age-based tips for selecting books, along with specific titles to consider for growing your child’s library.

  0-3 months

  Aim for books with simple illustrations and patterns.  Black and while illustrations or big, high-contrast pictures do a great job of capturing newborns’ attentions, which makes sense given that their vision is still developing.

• Look! Look! by Peter Linenthal

• 3-6 months

  Babies this age are seeing more colors and starting to develop motor skills.  Now is the perfect time to introduce books with more interactive features, such as different textures or lift-able flaps, so that your child remains engaged and can work on fine-motor skills.

•    Usborne That’s not my … series (e.g., That’s not my unicorn)
•   Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book by Rod Campbell

• 6-12 months

  Babies at this stage are starting to learn words, especially words for everyday objects that they encounter.  Try reading books that feature only one or a few items.  This allows your child to hear you name something frequently.  Point to the pictures to reinforce vocabulary.

•   First 100 Words by Roger Priddy
•  Where Is Baby’s Belly Button? by Karen Katz

• 12-18 months
  

• Silly stories are great at this stage: if you are reading a book about animals, pick one that involves making animal noises so that the two of you can make them together, while having lots of fun in the process!  Don’t forget to encourage your child to actively participate by asking them to point to or name objects.

• Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? by Dr. Seuss
• Moo, Baa, La La La! By Sandra Boynton

     18-24 months

Now is a good time to introduce books that teach your toddler numbers, ABCs, colors, and shapes.  Of course, make sure the books are enjoyable to you, too.  At this stage, your toddler may start asking for the same book over and over again!

• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault