Reading with Babies, Toddlers and Twos: A Guide to Laughing, Learning and Growing Together Through Books

by Susan Straub, K.J. Dell'Antonia

Research shows that the number of different words a baby hears each day is the single most important predictor of later intelligence, school success and social competence. But what exactly should you read when?

- What do you buy after you've bought Goodnight Moon?
- Why should you read to a baby who can't even sit?
- How are you going to read to a baby who just found his feet--and won't stop trying them out?
- How often should you read to your baby to make sure she's ready for preschool?

Whether you're a new parent or grandparent, sibling or friend, aunt or uncle, Reading with Babies, Toddlers and Twos is the definitive guide to choosing, reading and loving books together.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Education, Professional Development, Books About Books

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

Reviews

[Bird · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a former elementary school teacher, I love books. Books for adults, books for teens, books for kids, and now that I have a little one, books for babies. My collection of board books isn't very robust, so I loved all of the different lists in this book, which gave me a great starting point for books and authors to check out. I plan on buying my own copy so I can highlight and dog-ear to my heart's content.

The reason it got four stars instead of five? The author's stance on television bothered me. She basically takes a "You can't get away from TV, so don't worry about it too much" stance. While this is likely true for most families, I think it would have been better if the author had taken a firmer position on kids not watching TV, especially when they're so young. Providing a list of "good" DVDs for babies was especially annoying, because research has shown that babies and toddlers do not actually learn anything from so-called educational videos.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book in anticipation of a "storybook baby shower" wherein guests were invited to bring books for the soon-to-be-born babe. I found it very helpful, giving numerous book lists for various ages and subjects. Perhaps the most useful lists were for difficult emotions and life circumstances--kids books about death and dying, tantrums, potty training. There was even a chapter about kids music. In the end, I couldn't choose from all the suggested books and just bought this one as my present.

[Kyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great book that goes through children's developmental stages and incorporates booklists and parent tips in using literature to not only talk about hard topics but also how it influences their foundation for reading and learning!

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is primarily made up of book list suggestions for the youngest readers, including a brief description of each. Perhaps I've just read too many books on early literacy, but this one seems redundant to me. With pearls of wisdom like "'When do I start [reading to my child]?' Now."

Some of the book lists are favorites of random infants and toddlers, for example, we now know what 14 month old Ned's "Top Ten" stories are what 4-month old Avital likes read to her. No, I don't know why that matters either.

If you're looking for book suggestions, this is a great one. But I have to admit, when I pick out books for little ones, I go with ones I used to like and ones that caught my eye or, even better, the eye of the child in question. I'm a big believer in that book itself isn't really the point; it's all about the bonding and the fun of exploring the pictures.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book. The authors give tons of suggestions on how to use and enjoy books with little ones. They give all sorts of recommended lists by topic, i.e. "The Classics: 25 Picture Books for Every Child's Library" or "Five Books that Trigger, "Again! Again!", or "Simple Books About Baby's Day". I've discovered many great books from their recommendations. This is a book I pick up over and over again for new suggestions when I'm taking my little ones to the library or buying a gift for a new baby. It's very readable and FUN!

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the advice and resources offered in this book. My niece is two and my nephew is eleven months old. I started reading to them as soon as I could and both of them enjoy it (my nephew still tends to chew on his books, though). This book offered some great selections of baby/toddler/two-year-old friendly titles as well as other types of books, such as lift-the-flap-books and touch and feel books, that could also be beneficial for them. This book is a great resources for parents, family, and caregivers who want to share the joys of reading with their little people.

[Laura Stiller · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an okay resource. The writing was pretty basic and really nothing new. They had some basic developmental charts and emphasized rereading several favorite books over and over again. I saved titles from their recommended lists simply because I'm always looking for new books to check out from the library, but other than that it was really nothing different from every other reading resource/anthology.

[Melina · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read in this particular genre. Takes a very balanced approach to topics such as screen time and includes chapters on literacy beyond picture books. Although it's aimed for parents of very young children, some of their suggestions can be adapted for older children as well. Nice book lists included throughout, but they are quite US-centric, which means the books can be harder to find for international readers.

[Caris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt like a glorified reading list. I could see how it would be helpful for someone who doesn't like reading. Since I'm someone who does, most of the suggestions on the "how-to" felt like common sense. I did come away with plenty of suggestions on what to read, but I could have looked at a reading list and not have to read a 10 chapter book.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between this and Amazon's used books for $.01, we are going to have an alarmingly full nursery bookshelf!

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was informative but not exactly what I was looking for.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up at my library mostly for the extensive booklists it contains. The authors recommended several of my favorites and several of my least favorites, along with a surprising number I was unfamiliar with. I suppose they will be a mixed bag in terms of my tastes, but I hope to find several new gems to add to my collection, which was the point.
I have a degree in early childhood education. I have also raised five children. So the content itself was not new to me. BUT For those less schooled in child development and children’s literature, this book would be a great introductory course. There is helpful information here for new parents, and it is written in an easily accessible tone.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the idea of this book: it addresses why reading is so important, and how reading to and with your child evolves over his infancy and toddlerhood. It offers age- and stage-specific advice about how to make reading fun, and it talks about how reading together can ease various transitions.

But a big part of what this book offers is lists of suggested books to read, and most of those are no longer available 13 years on. (And the ones that were, weren't to my taste.) Much of the book's text, particularly in its second half, feels like filler between these lists; I would have appreciated more advice about how to select and present books.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first advice to anyone wanting to read with their children, especially babies, is don't overthink it. Just do it. Don't worry about "doing it right." It is great if you don't get through the whole book. It's okay if you read it backwards, if your baby crawls away after two pages, if your toddler refuses to let you read and instead insists, "Do by MYSELF!!" What matters most is your little hearing your voice and spending that time with you!

That being said, this book is a great guide for anyone who wants thoughtful and inventive ways to approach choosing and engaging with literature with their littles. This guide was very accessible and well-formatted, with lots of practicable tips.

My favorite aspects were 1) the book recommendations for a variety of specific ages, circumstances, or interests, and even more so, I enjoyed 2) the practical suggestions for different strategies for reading with different ages. The way you read to a floor-bound baby will be different than how you read to a first-words one year old, which is different than how you read to a toddler who moves so quickly you are wondering how they haven't created a wormhole. But, you can read to all of them and engage all of them in ways that maximize their developmental strengths and tendencies.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this with very little knowledge of babies at all, and found it a good introduction from a "how do I decide what to read to my friends' kids?" perspective. The charts, in particular, were exactly what I was hoping to get from this book. The themed lists based on interests were less helpful for me -- those and some of the less universally applicable recommendation lists felt a bit like filler, but all in all worth the read, even if the kids you want to read to are not your own!

[Nawal Ciaramitaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good mix of child development and reading lists. Not sure how to explain a transition in your child’s like, like potty training? Read a book about it. Additionally, it breaks down different concepts like fingerplays and fairy tales to share their importance and how to integrate them in your child’s life as a pre-reader.

[Megan Close Zavala · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an accessible read with lots of great recommendations for books to read my daughter that aren’t necessarily widely considered classics. The first hazard was way more substantive - the last half seemed to lose steam and focus on a lot of minutiae.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a reference book than one to read straight through, but it does have some good tips. LOTS of book recommendations, to the point they felt over-the-top, but there's certainly something for everyone with a young child in here.

[Elyse Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF - I didn't really like this book. I found that the information in it wasn't shocking or new in any way. This would be a good book to read for first-time parents who are not readers themselves and don't enjoy reading. I just didn't find much value in it myself

[La Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few extra tools in my toolbox!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for my LS 520 class, Early Literacy & Story programs for ages birth - 8. This was an informative and worthwhile read. I liked the formatting of the text and various recommended book lists.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from the library thinking that I've read too many children's books to learn a lot of new stuff. I learned not to judge a book by it's cover. There are many types of lists in here for:

picture books
babies
toddler
read alouds
wordless books
fairy tales
color books
shape books
texture books
flap books
interactive books
nursery rhymes
illustrations for favorite songs
bedtime troubles
feelings
discussing birth
baby in the family
waiting for baby
not liking baby
tantrums
funny books
potty training
tub time
eating
getting well soon
vehicles
first chapter books to read

Television programs for toddlers and babies
websites with children's games on them

very informational and well worth a look.

[Elizabeth Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a resource with a lot of kids books, broken down into categories and lists. The lists are great--the other "educational" parts of the book seemed redundant and boring. If you're a parent actually reading this book, you probably don't need to be told to limit screen time, or that reading books is great for your kids development. You know all of this (which is why you're reading it in the first place), so why waste your time reading chapters about how and why to read to your kids when you could just be reading to them? I skimmed a lot of this one, but the lists were great. If you've ever been at a loss for books to get at the library, these lists are probably a good place to start.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, highly readable guide full of tons of practical hints and advice. Particularly valuable for the book recommendation lists; there's one for nearly every circumstance, from new foods to toilet training to death to going to the doctor. A great roadmap to steer you through the dizzyingly bright colors of the children's book section!

[Davina · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book definitely had some valuable insights, I think would be more useful as a reference text with its fantastic annotated book lists on every kind of picture & board book you could want to find.

[Brenda Vasquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! Very informative!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book! It has lists of suggested books for all developmental levels and even by topic. It also includes lots of anecdotes from parents that make it a fun read.

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

gave book ideas for all ages and also ideas on teaching your child to love books. Made my own list based on the numerous lists throughout the book

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to share with parents and caregivers--warm, practical, and nonjudgemental.

[Susan Springer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent guide for choosing, reading and loving books together. I
especially liked the accompanying activity suggestions in art, music,
hands-on, TV, video, etc.