The Baby Book Nook

Does your toddler like to read upside down? If so, he’s not alone. Researchers Judy DeLoache, Sophia Pierroutsakos, and David Uttal (2000) took a look at the picture book orientation preferences of 18-. 24-, and 30-month-olds. The 1½ year olds in their study showed little preference regarding right side up versus upside down book reading, the 2½ year olds showed an emerging right side up preference, and the middle age group fell, well, in the middle. Remarkably, an upside down view does not appear to impede learning: The youngest children interpreted book pictures accurately in right side up and upside down test conditions.   Silly Sally went to town, walking backwards, upside down . . .    Silly Sally , a cumulative rhyming tale by Audrey Wood, is a topsy-turvy read-aloud for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. P.S. No need to turn the book around.

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...