You can start reading to your baby from birth, and he will probably enjoy the rhythm of your voice, but probably won’t gain much else from it until he is five or six months old, able to hold his head firmly, look at the pictures and grab at the book! This is the time to start exploring your local library and bringing home bright, colourful picture books. Talk to your baby about the things in the pictures. You will find that he will gradually begin to concentrate for longer, and you can start to read the words to him. Don’t worry if he turns the pages before you have finished, he is simply enjoying seeing the book and being with you.
After a while you will discover that he wants to sit and listen, and becomes aware that the words on the page are the ones you are reading, and which refer to the picture. He will probably want the same book again and again... and again... until you feel like throwing it out of the window! But this is an important part of a toddler’s development; he needs to know that the book is consistent, that the same story will be told every time. You can introduce other books in the hope that he will find a new favourite, but it is likely that one or two books will be requested hundreds of times before he tires of them.
By the time your child is about two and a half, he is likely to be ready for longer stories, although it is probably best to stick to books with pictures as well as text at this age. There are a wonderful selection available: take your child to the library frequently and let him choose books from the sections for young children. He will probably want some with very little text as well as some with longer stories. Some of my favourites were:
Spot the Dog series
Simple text and delightful pictures with surprises behind pop-ups. These books can be damaged by toddlers too eager to lift the flaps, but can usually be mended!
Shirley Hughes: Dogger, Alfie and Annie Rose series
Alfie and Annie Rose are now almost classic picture books, describing everyday living with two delightful children in a typical British home. The text is enjoyable, the pictures full of detail and charm. 'Dogger' is probably my favourite picture book of all time: it is the story of a child's much-loved toy, and how an older sister gave up something she had won for the sake of her little brother. There are many other books by Shirley Hughes, all of which my children enjoyed when they were younger.
Mary Raynor: Mrs Pig stories
Stories about the pig family and the things that happen when - for instance - they decide to plant household items instead of seeds, or when they leave their toys lying around.
Dr Seuss: The Cat in the Hat, Green eggs and ham, The Sneetches, I had trouble in getting to Solla Sollew (and many others)
Dr Seuss is one of the best known authors of children's books, and his simple vocabulary means that they make delightful books for beginning readers as well as for parents to read aloud. He wrote dozens of books: the three mentioned are particular favourites of ours, but they are all worth reading. Many of them have surprisingly deep moral issues at the heart of the story: the Sneetches is about racism, for instance, and Solla Sollew is about facing up to troubles.
Last modified 4th August 2003
