The Baby Book Nook

1, 2, 3 Si ! (August, 2011) is an 18-page bilingual board book for toddlers, twos, and preschoolers that introduces the numbers 1 through 10 in English and Spanish. Each spread teaches number shapes and words and includes an array of countable items. The latter are BEAUTIFULLY photographed objects of art from the San Antonio Museum of Art. Each page asks a question, sparking book talk. Read-aloud play with a toddler might go something like this (Portions of text are in bold italics .): 1 una guitarra one guitar   Trace the large, colorful numeral 1 that sits in the upper left hand corner. Your toddler might imitate the downward stroke. "This is one. I see one guitar." Hold up your tracing finger. "One!" 2 two eyes Can you play peek-a-boo? You might say, "Mira!" "I see two eyes!" Cover the face collage on the page with your hand or a colorful napkin. "Donde estan?" "Where are they?" Your toddler will likely peek. Take ...

Parents of under-fives often find more than one child on their lap at read-aloud time. Children's age differences can add up to huge developmental differences and finding a book that reads at a variety of levels can be hard. This is why I love RRRalph . It has something for everyone. Ralph is a likable, black and white paper collage mutt with a zippered snout and a flip-top nose for adventure. The book's inside cover asks, Would you like to meet a talking dog? Well, yah!!!  What's in it for baby? Bright, eye-popping pictures and animal sounds to parrot. For preschool siblings? A dog, plus large print to point out and a simple lively text that sparks book talk. Slightly older children can read and create off the page, crafting torn-paper collages to illustrate stories about their pets, or building a kid-sized doghouse from a cardboard box for inside play. What's in it for Mom and Dad? A chance to bark, woof, and howl (with laughter, of course)!

Few board books meet the developmental needs of very young babies like Hello, Bugs! (2010) by Smriti Prasadam and Emily Bolam. Ten sturdy pages feature ten noisy insects pictured in bold black and white with colored foil accents. The text is simple and repetitive. Hello, Bee! Hello, Worm! Hello, Spider!  The bugs buzz, buzz , wiggle, wiggle and creep, crawl . At one month of age, babies look briefly at bright objects placed within reach. At two months, visual tracking skills emerge. Horizontal tracking develops first, then vertical--side to side, then up and down, down and up. As you read, bee the bug. Turn your hand into a tickling spider alerting baby to book play. Turn your two pointers into talking worms, "Hello, Worm!" "Hello!" Stage the action 8 to 12 inches from baby's eyes and allow her time to focus on one wiggling finger before wiggling the next. Make the bee fly. Let baby's eyes settle on the black and yellow cover image, then slowly move ...

Between 12 and 18 months of age babies begin to show a sense of funny . What tickles their olecranon process? The unexpected. According to The Hawaii Developmental Charts (1993), at this age babies begin to laugh at incongruities . Imagine you and your toddler in the kitchen. The telephone rings. Instead of answering your cell, you pick up a banana, "Hello?" Toddlers will laugh at that. Truck Duck (2004), a 26-page board book by Michael Rex, delivers loads of laughs and belly quacks. It is ideal for 18-month-old boys because of their love of trucks and all things that go vrooom in the night. Each two-page spread pictures an animal (or fish or bug) in a vehicle. Each scene is labeled with a rhyming, two-word phrase- cab crab , plow cow , tug bug . Rex's illustrations make you smile. His pairings are zany. These creatures love their ride! Point and label as you read and you'll bolster baby's word learning. Related books for your read-aloud stack include My Truck...

     Babies grow up! Wee readers turn into preschoolers with a new set of book needs.  Twice a year the folks at The Horn Book publish The Horn Book Guide to Children's and Young Adult Books , a thick softcover tome that reviews newly published works. Here is a list of starred preschool books released between January and June of this year: Push Button by Aliki LMNO Peas by Keith Baker Forever Friends by Cairn Berger Alfie Runs Away by Kenneth M. Cadow Beaver Is Lost by Elisha Cooper I Can Help by David Hyde Costello Sky-High Gu y by Nina Crews Boom Bah! by Phil Cummings Cupcake: A Journey to Special by Charise Mericle Harper My Garden by Kevin Henkes The Village Garage by G. Brian Karas One Night in the Zoo by Judith Kerr Kindergarten Diary by Antoinette Portis Who Said Coo? by Deborah Ruddell Brownie and Pearl Step Out by Cynthia Rylant When Jack Goes Out by Pat Schories What If? by Laura Seeger A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Ph...

Below is an excerpt from an article, "Reading Books to Babies," published by Kids Health . When and How to Read Here's a great thing about reading aloud: It doesn't take special skills or equipment, just you, your baby, and some books. Read aloud for a few minutes at a time, but do it often. Don't worry about finishing entire books — focus on pages that you and your baby enjoy. Try to set aside time to read every day — perhaps before naptime and bedtime. In addition to the pleasure that cuddling your baby before bed gives both of you, you'll also be making life easier by establishing a routine. This will help to calm your baby and set expectations about when it's time to sleep. It's also good to read at other points in the day. Choose times when your baby is dry, fed, and alert. Books also come in handy when you're stuck waiting, so have some in the diaper bag to fill time sitting at the doctor's office or standing in line at the gr...

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.

Toddlers sometimes run in packs. The habitat varies: Daycare centers, playgroups, public libraries, family reunions, Y-care, playgrounds, church basements, families graced with multiple births. Three books by Annie Kubler play particularly well in small group settings.  Hands ready? The nursery song Ten Little Fingers (2003) is a fun-filled read that ends on a quiet note. It won an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Best Book Award . Ring Around A Rosie (2003) illustrates the circle game of the same name. It includes a second verse, Fishes in the water, Fishes in the sea ..., which gets children back on their feet ... W ith a one, two, three! I'm a Little Teapot! (2007) sets up pretend play. Kubler paints toddlers in togs that mimic the colors of a teapot. They are the teapot! Tottering two-year-olds stand on one foot and bend: Tip me up, and pour me out! Balance skills! At book's end, a   tea party. Does your toddler have a favorite nursery rhyme book?

This Little Piggy (2008), Annie Kubler's version of the popular rhyme, requires barefoot reading. Each two-page spread features a toddler touching a toe on the left and, dressed as a pink pig, acting out verse on the right. Ralphie as a rabbit in The Christmas Story comes to mind. Kubler draws five tikes across ten pages. Early vocabulary words- ball, book, blocks, and cup- are introduced on pages 3 and 4. A baby crisis occurs on pages 7 and 8: This little piggy had none! Major upset! You can talk about feelings. An opportunity to mimic animal sounds (yes, a pig) presents itself on pages 9 and 10. Adaptable for babies of all ages, This Little Piggy is perfect for 12- to 18-month-olds.