What Makes a Baby Book Good?

Sturdy board pages. A rainbow of baby faces. Verse rhythm and rhyme. Playful, patterned artwork that pops from the page.

All of which brings me to a final note (for now) about children's book illustrator Annie Kubler. Pictures can make or break a baby book's appeal. Kubler draws babies front and center, in the middle of things, just where they like to be! Her page action is simple. Each drawing carries one main idea or topic for conversation.

Young children are grand imitators. Kubler's characters are often partnered with stuffed animals, 'lovies,' who imitate them. Her babies simply can't sit still! Sound like someone you know?

Born in France, Annie Kubler lives and works in the UK. She is the Art Director at Child's Play International, an English publishing firm that specializes in books for the youngest reader.

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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...

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 .

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...

The Baby Book Nook

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