Baby Care

In Children’s book stores, you’ll find books with sturdy materials that are developed for babies and for children up to and including the preschool and kindergarten age years. Toy books can been made of heavy cloth, fabric, and cardboard which is sometimes padded. They are called Toy Books. These books are to be read but also to be played with by babies or toddlers.

These books are the first intro to written books and are very important for child development and care. Many Toy Books have a familiar story or nursery rhyme theme. Almost always the books have big images or bright colors. You can also find toy books that “pop up” images as you skip from one page to the next.

The can learn to turn the page, an important emergent literacy step, and hear language as it is also read to them. The books are meant to be shared, as an adult or older child can read it to them. The familiarity of this book then often lends itself to a child actually “reading” the book from memory (again, another important step in the reading process). In this way, the child learns language. In addition, many children’s books repeat words. This leads to forming a memory trace within the child of the letters and the sound of the word(s) as it is heard and viewed frequently. This then leads to the book being read by the child and the book becoming the child’s favorite.

The next time, then, you as a parent, friend, or relative of a baby or child pass an aisle containing these colorful, playful books that look indeed enticing for children, don’t pass them up. They make great gifts! It is highly likely that your intended little one will enjoy these books both in play and as a learning tool. The early books will lead a child to a love of shared reading as you or someone reads the book to the child and models the reading process for and with them. The baby or child will love touching or feeling the book, and, again, three of the senses are involved in the process (seeing, hearing, and the kinesthetic experience of touching). The Toy Book will, most importantly, instill in the child a love of books as a pleasurable, fun experience. This will lay the foundation for a lifetime of the enjoyment of reading.