Skip to main content

Peek-a-boo Books

Peek-a-boo play helps teach object permanence. Peek-a-boo books cue peek-a-boo play. They make great reading for babies.

What is object permanence?

It is the rabbit in the hat, out of sight, but still on stage. It is knowing that people and objects carry on after they leave your field of vision. Imagine a cement truck pouring a concrete foundation for thinking skills development. Object permanence is in the mix. Once set, babies think about people and things differently. Labels and attributes stick. A sense of security builds. Expectations and attachments form. According to developmental psychologist Jean Piaget, object permanence emerges at about nine months of age.

My favorite peek-a-boo book for young babies is Peek-a WHO? (2000) by Nina Laden. Six mitt-sized, peanut-shaped holes cue hands-on reading. Peek-a WHO? Turn the cover page and find an owl. You can Peek a MOO! and Peek a CHOO-CHOO! A large mirror insert fills the last page: Peek a YOU! The book itself makes a fun screen for peek-a-boo play.

Classic Pat the Bunny (1940) by Dorothy Kunhardt has two pages of peek-a-boo play: Judy can play peek-a-boo with Paul. Now YOU play peek-a-boo with Paul. He's hiding under a fabric flap.

PEEK-A-BOO! (1997) and PEEPO! (1999), the UK version, by Janet and Allan Ahlberg offer a more detailed text and illustrated page. Circle cut-outs prompt peeks at baby's day.
Here's a little baby,
One, two, three
Stands in his crib
What does he see?

A page turn shows a sleepy mom and dad in bed surrounded by cozy clutter to pick through and label: a pair of boots, a duck, a clock, a toy piano ....
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Is a Concept Book?

The short (or long or tall) of it: A concept book is a picture book that teaches a broad concept to young readers. Examples? Alphabet books, number books, books about c o l o r s , opposites, feelings and emotions.   A concept is an idea, an abstract notion. Here's the rub. Very young readers are concrete thinkers, very "here and now." Luckily concept books do not have to teach the alphabetic principle, or algebra, or color theory. They teach what toddlers and young preschoolers can see, hear, touch, and feel - the upper and lowercase, quiet and loud, and happy and sad face of things.   Three concept books by DENISE FLEMING: LUNCH (1998) from Henry Holt and Co. Concept: Colors. A toothsome mouse called Mouse eats his way through the primary and secondary colors and then some. The pictures are deliciously big. Bon appetit! The emergent literacy bent: The text is sparse and the letters large, fostering print awareness. Point out a few words as you read. Clever...
4 comments
Read more

No Time Like the Present

Give yourself and your baby a present.  Time together, apart-from-others time. No ring tones. No sass tones. No Ho! Ho! Ho!  Quiet, one-on-one book time, one-on-one look time. Sleepy head, head on shoulder time.  Quiet LOUD (2003) by Leslie Patricelli .
2 comments
Read more

New Year's Day Book Giveaway

Out with the old , i n with the new ! To make room for 2013 review books , this year's stack must go . I need your help to find these wonderful new old books a home . Please nominate a group or agency in need of baby books in the comments section below--your child's day care center or a nursery school or a local literacy organization, for example . I'll choose a winner at random then po st two packages--one to you as a thank you , packed with the 5 books pictured in my December 22 blog post, and on e to your nominee , packe d with the books below : All Gone! , I Went Walking , Kiki's Blanket , No More Blanket for Lambkin! , What Can I Hear? , Giddy Up, Li'l Buckaroos! and  Ahoy, Li'l Buccaneers! , four Noodle books , Peek-a-boo! , Pat the Bunny , Peek-a Who? , Baby Play , I Kissed the Baby! , Kiss Good Night , Chicky Chicky Chook Chook , Chicka Chicka Boom Boom , Meeow and the Pots and Pans , Mother Goose , One Moose, Twenty Mice , Th e Apple Pie T...
23 comments
Read more