The Joy of Reading: Developing Your Baby’s Love of Books and Stories

The Joy of Reading: Developing Your Baby’s Love of Books and Stories


Books, books, and more books! With a curiosity and interest in the world around her, you may find your one-year-old bringing you books to read together at a breakneck pace, especially first word books with real life images of common objects, theme books like “Things that Go” by Roger Priddy, and colorful story books about animals and babies. Encourage your baby’s desire to develop her Reading Books and Stories skills, and you will see her communication skills blossom even more quickly.

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Board books that offer simple children’s songs and finger plays are also a great choice for this age group. Music helps children hear the rhythm of the spoken word more clearly, while finger play encourages your baby to get more deeply involved with the content by bringing her into the storytelling process. Anything that lets her actively take part in the reading experience is always a learning bonus.

Books offer a range of skills that can’t be found through simple conversation or vocabulary-building, “real world” activities. For example, reading books will help your baby build patience and focus as she waits to see how the story unfolds and create ties between real world objects and pictures of them. This ability to associate the images she sees in first word books with objects found in the real world is known as Awareness of Print and Illustration skills, and they will help her understand that letters, numbers, symbols, and images carry meaning.1 At this age, your baby will enjoy showing you what she knows by pointing to objects you ask her to find. This exercise will help build her vocabulary and increase her interest in reading by letting her participate in the reading process, even if she’s too little to know how to read.

Don’t forget about symbols at this stage! The more your baby understands about the symbols in her environment and what they mean, the more she will value learning about them.2  As you go through your daily routine, point out and explain what different common symbols mean. For instance, when you go to a public restroom for a diaper change, point out the “Restroom” sign and say “The sign says ‘restroom.’ This is where we go to change your diaper.” When checking out your groceries at the store, point out the sign that says “12 items or less”  and count your items together to show what the sign is telling you. And, as your baby develops the ability to walk on her own, teach her what the red, yellow and green colors of a streetlight mean when you take a walk together. Understanding symbols will also help her develop important Safety and Personal Care skills.

If your baby cannot seem to sit still long enough to read or is restless during story time, she is not alone! This is common among young readers, so a great way to support literacy is to help her make a book about herself, complete with labels for objects, people’s names, and their relationship to her. Use pictures of your baby and loved ones taken on different occasions, such as her one-year birthday party, on vacation, or just playing at home, to create a “Book of Me.”  Even the most wiggly babies are interested in seeing themselves in their very own book!

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Play Tips:

Do you want to know how you can support your baby’s development of these Reading Books and Stories and Awareness of Print and Illustrations skills at this age? It’s easy! Read on for some simple tips to incorporate into your daily play time together.

  1. Make it a routine to read together several times a day. Look at simple picture books that encourage your baby’s active participation. Name and point to objects and introduce animal sounds to her.
  2. Offer a variety of books that are easily accessible. Encourage your baby to hold and touch any books that interest her. The more exposure to books you can give her, the more natural interest she will have in reading in the future.
  3. Sing nursery songs and rhymes together every day. With repeated exposure, your baby will learn how to sing the songs and recite the rhymes on her own in the near future. Another way to engage her is by allowing her to say a word or complete a phrase in familiar song or rhyme.
  4. Point out print and symbols in the environment.  By reading signs and following directions, you are showing your baby what print and symbols mean. Teach her that it is important to learn how to read these signs as they are an essential form of communication in everyday life, and that they encourage safety, establish rules, and provide helpful information.

Developmental Milestones:

Has your baby achieved the following Reading Books and Stories and Awareness of Print and Illustrations developmental milestones yet? If yes, check off all the skill(s) she has already mastered to date using Playful Bee’s developmental milestones tracker. It’s absolutely FREE and easy to use, just click HERE!

  • Looks at objects and pictures when specifically named.

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Sources:

1Quick, Carol A. (2013). Toddler Reading Time. KidsHealth. Retrieved December 16, 2013, from http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/learning/reading_toddler.html.

2Center for Early Literacy Learning (2010). Letters and Symbols are Everywhere. Center for Early Literacy Learning. Retrieved December 17, 2013, from http://www.earlyliteracylearning.org/pgparents.php.

Playful Bee

Education Team at Playful Bee
Playful Bee is an e-Preschool that delivers inquiry-based preschool learning from the classroom to your home. Our preschool curriculum was created by our talented team of rock star teachers. With years of hands-on preschool and Kindergarten teaching experience, they've developed a high-quality preschool experience that is convenient-to-use and easy-to-teach by you, grandparents, or your nanny at home.

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