Books that you can read to your baby

Benefits of reading and storytelling

• Promotes brain development and imagination
• Teaches your child about language and emotions
• Exposes children to new and different words which are not used regularly in everyday speech, thus promotes language comprehension
• Lays the foundations for literacy
• Fosters an early interest in reading before children reach school age

When and how to read to toddlers

• Having a regular reading time (especially before naps and bedtime) is helpful.
• Be guided by your child's interest in reading.
• You can have the child seated in your lap which helps them to feel safe and relaxed. Let your toddler help you turn pages and point at the illustrations.
• Don't expect your toddler to sit still while reading.
• Turn off the TV or music or any distractions so your child can focus.
• Read slowly and expressively. Puppets, props or fingerplays can be used while reading.
• Point to the pictures and talk about them. Ask questions and praise them for their response.

Choosing books for toddlers 

• Toddlers like to do things on their own. Place a few books and let them choose. Praise their selection.
• It's OK if he chooses the same one over and over.
• Board books or cloth books are durable, and the pages don't get ripped off easily.
• Books with detailed illustrations (Picture books) are easier to be related to the text.
• Choose books-
  
  • that have good rhyme, rhythm and repetition (poetry or songbooks) in which the child can clap, sing and dance along.
  • featuring their favourite topics- like cars, fairies, animals, insects, pirates, machines, trains or trucks
  • with lift-up flaps or pop-ups, with different textures to touch which keeps their hands busy
  • that are educational with alphabets, shapes, sizes, colours and counting
  • that uses humour and have a sense of fun
  • that are homemade, scrapbooks, or photo albums full of known friends and relatives (try adding simple captions)