Babies and books – how to choose books for your baby
If you haven’t started reading to your baby, you could think about fitting storytime into your daily routine. Research suggests that reading to your baby regularly supports their language and social development, especially if you chat to them as you read and respond to their interests as you share a book together.
Choosing books for your baby
- Choose books that you enjoy. If a particular story becomes your baby’s favourite, you will probably find that you read it a lot!
- Choose books with fairly large clear pictures – your baby might not be able to see the detail in more complex pictures yet.
- Have some board books, or books with stiff pages, so that your baby can explore those themselves.
- Look for books with things that your baby can touch; this could be illustrations that have something for your baby to feel or a stiff flap to lift.
- Choose books with simple text, perhaps with rhyme or repetition.
- When you read, respond to your baby, so sometimes simplify the words or comment on a picture that they notice.