The Baby Book Nook

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 .

There's still time! I traveled north this past Thanksgiving: 48 auto hours made possible by CD's, audio books and coffee, no cream, no sugar. A new purchase, You are My Little Bird (2006) by Elizabeth Mitchell, was among the mix. If you need a last minute baby gift, or clap happy entertainment for car seated little ones, this is it. You are My Little Bird is a compilation of children's folk songs sung in clear soft tones by Mitchell and friends. Most are in English, one is in Spanish, one in Japanese, one Korean. A favorite of mine, "Little Liza Jane," takes me back to Preservation Hall in New Orleans. Best books for very young babies carry rhythm and rhyme. Songs on paper. Young babies, ears awash in language sounds, face the daunting task of parceling and making sense of what they hear. Playful, beat-driven verse helps. Anthony Seeger, former Director Emeritus of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and You are My Little Bird 's producer, writes, M...

Count My Kisses, 1, 2, 3 and Red, Green, Blue, I Love You , both published in June of this year, were recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on September 11, 2013. Check your book stacks. For details, click here .

Dear Dad, Do you like my hat? This phrase brings back very vivid memories of morning and evening greetings in the Allentown house. Waking up to Go, Dog. Go! quotes and eating cinnamon toast with my knees tucked into my over-sized, worn-out, Eagles t-shirt. That pretty much encapsulates ages five through nine. I know that when you said it you were basically guaranteed a comment and an eye roll about your clearly hatless head, but I hope you know that as an adult, it has become one of my favorite memories of my Dad. I love you and I'm so happy that I got a Dad who quoted talking dogs. Otherwise life could have been boring and who knows if I could be as proud about anybody else. Love, Molly Found note. True story. True dat! True dad. Go, Dads. Read! Happy Father's Day.

Is your baby learning English and Spanish? Here are 5 bilingual picture books for bab ies 0 to 5 months of age. Each bathes ba by's ears in lyrical language sounds. Each is eye-catching. T uck away books when baby starts reaching. Take them out again when they turn... five?      

I've been on the road . I stopped by The Strand, a large independent bookstore in NYC, to look at their board book offerings . The 18 miles of a isles were packed with grown-ups and kids a nd me, plump with batting to fight the cold and windy streets. I barely fit! I shopped with haste . H ere is what I found.   The Noisy Book (2012) by Soledad Bravi is a near-perfect word learning book for ones and twos. Why near? Research suggests young 1-year-olds learn best from photographs. Bravi's page design --one object per 2-page spread-- holds constant, assuring a single point of view for book talk.  A colorful patchwork of thumbnail prints, drawn from The Noisy Book 's interior, blankets the inside front and back pages, creating a wonderful opportunity for point-and-label play and word review. I spied a board edition of The House in the Night (2011) by Susan Marie Swanson  and Caldecott Medal winner Beth Krommes. The book's gentle cadence and warm glow make ...

These three hardcover picture books recently got board. The younger format makes great reading for almost-threes. Bob Shea's dinosaur conq u ers the day in Dinosaur vs. Bedtime (2011). He writes, ROAR! I 'M A DIN OSAUR! ROAR! NOTHING CAN STOP ME! Playtime, mealtime, and b athtime are KO'd by this likable Roarosaurus. Brilliant pictures add punch. Do you live with a dinosaur? He will love this book! P.S. Read red. Did you know that 2- and 3-year-olds rarely look at book print? They eye the pictures. Reading researchers point to a relationship between preschoolers' print awareness and early elementary reading ability. What can parents do? P oint o ut p rint as you read:  POP! Playfully. Sparingly. Once per book for 1-year-olds; twice for 2-year-olds; thrice for 3's. Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type (2010) by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin makes it easy. Words embedded in pictures beg for attention. Play off the page. W rite, illustrate, and post crayon...

Super Chicken! (2013) by Rebecca Purcell has holes for poking, bold patterns for gazing, and pretend play aplenty. Take the cover : Super Chicken's goggles are die-cut. Baby pokes . Mom labels,  Eyes! Turn the page. Super Chicken's cape has a star cut-out. Baby pokes . Dad labels, C ape! Poke and point. Point and label. Perfect! Holes vary in size and s hape throughout , accommodating baby's first finger or fist, depending. The book is bigger than most boards, a full 8 1/4 by 8 1/4 inches . Pictures are bright and eye-catching.   P airs of 2-page spread s tell three s imple stor ies about Chicken's day. For example, Purcell writes, Chicken builds a castle out of blocks. Chicken plays . Very basic . Turn the page. Super Chicken rescues a baby dragon!   Chicken's super imagination takes her high above the castle turned me dieval mansion to rescue a dragon in distress, a small stuffed animal plucked from the previous page...

Here's a peek at January '13 releases. Is there one you'd like to hear about?

Comment Number 3 was chosen at random from a set of numbers 1 through 11. Congratulations , Donna ! Please email  me for shipping details. Thanks, everyone, for entering! Stay tuned for more baby book news!!!