Making links - sharing books and learning about the world

Books are wonderful for exploring the world and everything within it. Most will feature something relatable for your toddler, whether it be the grass, sun or an animal.  

Others will offer new and unfamiliar things – the chance to discover foods, places, people, types of transport and emotions.  

No matter whether a book is familiar or not, it will always be a great talking point. Books are jam-packed with words and pictures, all there, ready to be part of your chat. 

When reading, your toddler might be able to link what they see with a familiar thing, so if they see a teddy wearing a scarf, they might say, “My teddy has a coat.” Or they may see something completely new and be curious about it.  

Seeing new things can inspire your toddler to look out for them in different places. It could be that they saw a leopard during story time and hadn’t seen one before; a few days later they might see a leopard on a greeting card and connect it to the one in the book. 

How can you help your toddler learn more through books? 

• Look and listen – see what your toddler is interested in and link your comments to their interests.  
• Point out features in pictures, like, “Look, that girl has got a dog!” and “Can you see the cat?”  
• If you are looking at a book together, sometimes pause before turning a page so that your toddler can look at the pictures. Don’t feel you have to read the story every time; respond to your toddler’s interests, sometimes you might stop to look at, and chat about, an interesting picture that they notice, and the story itself waits for another day!