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What a Girl Wants, What a Girl Needs

I am going to ramble a bit. If you have no time for a little leaf crunching and fresh air, scroll down to the last paragraph.

If I had one "do-over" as a parent, it would be to have shared more books with my three children. Not for the sake of them knowing books, but for the sake of me knowing them.

I occasionally stray from my diet of board books and read about writing. Recently, I learned authors often make the mistake of writing to their reader's needs rather than their wants. The former is a bit presumptuous. At the very least, it assumes a knowledge of a readership that a writer likely does not have. How can we know what others need without a dialogue in place?

I believe I know what your baby needs, board book wise, based on his or her developmental age. You are lucky. You know what your baby wants. Long books, short books? Quiet books, loud books? Ducks, trucks, goose? Pair your child's needs with their wants and you'll create A LOT of page interest.

When you visit The Baby Book Nook, what do you want to see? What do you need to read?

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