Raise a Reader: A Parent Guide to Reading for Ages 0-2
Books and Your Baby
It’s 20 minutes before bedtime, and you’ve decided to start a bedtime reading routine with your 6-month-old baby. As you turn the pages of a sturdy board book, your baby seems so interested! She is grunting and grabbing at the book. You let her hold the book herself, and she babbles excitedly.
“Wow,” you think. “My baby loves reading!”
Then, she brings the book up to her face... and sticks it in her mouth for an after-dinner snack. Babies do enjoy books for more than just a snack.
- Most Babies Will: Enjoy tactile books with flaps, mirrors, textures, and sounds.
- Some Babies Will: Enjoy simple board books with action language, and recall pictures, sounds, and phrases from their favorite books.
- Some Babies Might Even: Enjoy longer picture books with a simple plot — especially if the plot has a pattern of repetition.
Find out what kinds of books suit your baby based on her age.
Birth to 9 Months
Reading to a baby can be hilarious — and it’s also bound to be frustrating for any linear-thinking adult. Many parents don’t see the value in reading to children this young. In a 2008 survey commissioned by Scholastic*, only 48 percent of parents reported reading to their child when the child was less than 1 year old. An additional 17 percent read to their children before they turned 2, and another 15 percent began reading before their children turned three.
This is also the age to introduce books with fun textures and flaps — children love to explore with their fingers and mouths as well as their eyes.
When you read to a young baby, don’t worry about finishing the book or even turning pages in the right direction. Just enjoy playing with the book as if it’s a toy, and read as much as your baby will let you.
9 to 18 months
At this age, you are beginning to hear your child’s first words. He is probably also pointing at objects and saying “Dat?” His receptive vocabulary (the words he can understand) is much richer than his spoken language.
This is where early reading begins to pay off. According to a study published in PEDIATRICS, babies who were read to regularly starting at six months had a 40 percent increase in receptive vocabulary by the time they were 18 months old. Babies in the study who were not read to had only a 16 percent increase in receptive vocabulary.
As your child begins to speak these new words she knows, now is the time to check out the plentiful “see and say” books. You’ll enjoy pointing out pictures and describing them to your child, and your child will enjoy pointing to pictures and hearing you identify the images.
18 months to 2 years
At 18 months, your child will begin to have the patience for “real” story-time, cuddled up on your lap with a pile of books. Mother Goose and other rhyming books will delight her ears and train her to listen carefully to the sound of language.
At this age, your child may want to “read” the books with you. He may ask questions, turn the pages back and forth, and ask you to read specific parts that interest him. Encourage this! He will also begin to request his favorite books, which he will like you to read over… and over… and over again. This will become an enormously satisfying ritual for him — and it builds a strong foundation for future success with books and reading.
Reading Activities for Ages 0-2
Try these activities to get your baby started on a journey to literacy.
1. Use Your Voice
Animal noises. Tongue-clicking. Raspberries. Songs! No one loves funny sound effects more than your baby does. Don’t be afraid to go over the top with weird noises as you read. Your baby will start to imitate you, and your first “conversation” may ensue.
2. Visit the Library
Once your child can hold books on her own, bring her to your nearest library. Offer her a selection of books and see which ones she picks up, and which ones she pays attention to for the longest time. You can check out her favorites (at this age, stick with board books) and enjoy them together at home.
3. Be a Role Model
Your baby is playing on his own. You’re eyeing that magazine you had to put down when he got up from his nap. Your baby is happily amusing himself with a toy. Feeling too guilty to read while you’re baby is awake? Grab that magazine and relax! One of the top tips for building literacy in kids is to be a role model and show him how you love to read too. You may be surprised to find your baby leafing through a pile of books by himself as well.
4. Familiar Faces
Find a plastic-coated baby’s photo album that you can put pictures into. Your baby will love leafing through pictures of her loved ones. Be sure to include lots of pictures of your baby, too. As you “read” the photo album, tell her stories of the fun things she has done with the person she’s looking at. Pretty soon, she will be able to leaf through the book and identify every picture.
5. Look it Up
You are driving in the car and pass a construction site. As a jackhammer rips through the pavement, a backhoe lifts dirt from a pit. From the car seat in the back, you can hear you son go wild. This is a kid who needs a book about construction vehicles! Whether your little one demonstrates an interest in dogs, flowers, or balls, there will be a book with pictures that will fascinate him.
Online Literacy for Ages 0-2
Between smartphones, tablets, ebook readers, and, of course, desktop and laptop computers, you may read online more often than off. Either way, your baby will grow up in a world where online reading is an everyday part of literacy.
Babies watch our use of technology. As we check the news on our smartphones or type in a quick Twitter update, our babies are aware that we’re clicking and staring at a little screen. If your child appears to be curious, explain what you are doing.
Features of Digital Reading
Years before you could read, you probably learned how a book works — what the cover signifies, how to hold the book, how to turn pages – and that those little black squiggles on the page are words (even if reading them was years away). Today’s babies are learning about books, too — plus a range of other text-delivery devices. By familiarizing your child with how technology works, you are putting her on the path to her own eventual competence with technology.
As she sits on your lap in front of the computer, allow your child to move and click the mouse. Help her type her own name, and let her practice typing her first initial and seeing it fill up a page. If you Skype with grandparents, point to their username on Skype’s directory. Your child will become as attuned to the words that signify important terms or messages in the digital world as they are to stop signs and food labels.
Everyday Online
Encourage your baby to see how “eReading” technology is part of everyday life. Tell her, “I’m checking our calendar to see which day Grandma is coming to visit. Oh, great! It’s Saturday!” or “Let’s look at pictures that Alice’s mom posted from her birthday party.” Or, “Let’s text Graham’s mom and see if he’s free for a play date.” As your child sees the uses of online text, she will become interested in participating herself.
Best Books to Share With Your Baby
Looking for specific book recommendations? Try this list of books that are all perfect for squishing, lifting, and playing — just what baby wants to do with a book! Or enjoy titles featuring sounds and wordplay.
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*Pamela C. High, MD and her associates at the Child Development Center at Rhode Island Hospital conducted this study. (See PEDIATRICS, Vol.105 No.4, April 2000.)
Why Read to Babies?
Reading together when babies are as young as 4 months old increases the chances that parents continue reading to babies as they get older. Beginning early is important because the roots of language are developing in a baby’s brain even before he can talk! The more words a baby hears over time, the more words he learns.
Reading: Ages and Stages
Here are some general guidelines for what types of books are a good fit from birth to 3, along with some can’t-miss parent tips for book-sharing in the early years. Letting a child love books in the ways he knows how at each age fosters literacy skills from birth to 3, and beyond!
YOUR CHILD’S AGEBOOKS FOR INFANTSTIPS FOR PARENTSBirth-6 MonthsGo ahead and start reading chunky board books, soft fabric books, or vinyl bath books.Why read to babies? Though a baby may seem too little to understand, she enjoys your company and the sounds of your voice and words. At this age, babies may come to recognize the book-sharing routine by calming, widening their eyes, or smiling and kicking to show excitement. Babies will also want to explore books through their senses by grabbing and chewing on the book. They may not pay attention to the whole story, so take a break when they get bored (looking away, arching back, closing eyes, crying).6-9 MonthsOffer short, simple stories with colorful illustrations—board books are perfect.Babies may begin to explore books by looking, touching (opening/closing), and mouthing them. By 9 months, they may prefer or seem to recognize certain stories or pictures. A baby may also continue to occasionally mouth books. In the early years, that is a normal book behavior and tells us that babies want to explore books!9–18 MonthsOffer board books with simple stories. Stories with rhymes and phrases that repeat also catch a toddler’s attention. Children this age also love stories with pictures of other babies and familiar objects, such as animals.A toddler may have a favorite story that she requests all the time. Starting at about 12 months old, you can start to ask simple questions about the pictures such as “Where is the moon?” and watch to see if the baby points or gestures.18–24 MonthsIntroduce longer stories (perhaps with paper pages, though supervise carefully) with more complex plots. Humor is a big selling point at this age, as are silly rhymes.Don’t worry if a toddler runs away when you read—kids this age just really need to move. If you keep reading, he’ll keep listening, and he may come back to reconnect and hear more. Look for ways to connect that energy to the story, such as asking the child to hop like the rabbit in the book. The toddler might also be able to label objects with simple sounds or words, for example, exclaiming “Moo!” when he sees a picture of a cow. For new talkers, get in the habit of pausing before you say a favorite line or phrase in the story to see if a toddler will fill in the final word. Harness your toddler’s growing independence and give the child the “job” of turning pages. While reading, take some time to discuss what’s happening in the pictures and ask questions about the book such as “Who is hiding behind the tree?” This interaction helps to build a toddler’s thinking and language skills.24–36 MonthsThe child may be ready for books with regular pages and those that have an engaging plot (extra points for humor, rhymes, and great illustrations). Nonfiction stories—such as a book about construction vehicles, stories about animals or seasons, or books that discuss jobs such as doctor or mail carrier—are also of interest to toddlers who are working hard to figure out how the world works.At this age, you can ask questions about the story that are a little tougher such as “How do you think the boy is feeling?” or “What do you think will happen next?” Make connections between the book and the child’s life by asking questions such as “The boy in this story played in the snow. What did you do in the snow this afternoon?” By 3 years old, a child may even be able to tell you the story based on what’s happening in the pictures. And don’t be surprised if the little one wants to hear the same book over and over. Toddlers still love repetition and won’t tire of a story, even the 7th time.
Finally, remember that telling the child a story can happen any time. Give it a try during mealtimes, diaper changes, driving to child care, and right before bed when you “tell the story” of the child’s day. Each of these moments creates an opportunity to build a deeper connection with the child and to build her language and literacy skills, too!