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Say Hello to Hello, Bugs!

Few board books meet the developmental needs of very young babies like Hello, Bugs! (2010) by Smriti Prasadam and Emily Bolam. Ten sturdy pages feature ten noisy insects pictured in bold black and white with colored foil accents. The text is simple and repetitive. Hello, Bee! Hello, Worm! Hello, Spider! The bugs buzz, buzz, wiggle, wiggle and creep, crawl.

 At one month of age, babies look briefly at bright objects placed within reach. At two months, visual tracking skills emerge. Horizontal tracking develops first, then vertical--side to side, then up and down, down and up.

 As you read, bee the bug. Turn your hand into a tickling spider alerting baby to book play. Turn your two pointers into talking worms, "Hello, Worm!" "Hello!" Stage the action 8 to 12 inches from baby's eyes and allow her time to focus on one wiggling finger before wiggling the next. Make the bee fly. Let baby's eyes settle on the black and yellow cover image, then slowly move the book through the air according to your little one's looking abilities. Buzz. 

Tap the page in rhythm with the verse: Hel-lo, Grass-hop-per! Tap-tap, tap-tap-tap. This draws baby's eyes to the page and accentuates language sounds.

 Baby's attentiveness will vary. Keep it fun. Buzz, buzz. Wiggle, wiggle. Creep, crawl.
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Comments

  1. Elizabeth BennettSunday, April 17, 2011

    Wow! What a great post. You not only review books, but offer tips on how to get the most out of a book and meet the developmental needs of the child. Thanks so much for including our book in your blog. We have posted a link on our facebook page. Are you a fan yet? http://www.facebook.com/tigertales
    Happy Reading,
    Elizabeth Bennett
    tiger tales

    ReplyDelete
  2. RickiSunday, April 17, 2011

    My 9 month old son loves this book!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Linda McInnis, B.S.O.T., MEdTuesday, April 19, 2011

    Thanks so much for sharing your son's love of Hello, Bugs! Has he read the board book version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar? It has lots of holes for poking and pointing.

    ReplyDelete

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