Suggestions for good books for reading to an infant.

[Skinner]

My 10-week old infant seems to like it when we read books to him. Obviously, he has no clue what the heck we're reading, but I think he just likes listening to the sounds and looking at the pictures.

For our purposes, the best books seem to have the following three characteristics: 1) Relatively short, without too many words; 2) colorful, pretty pictures; and 3) Not-overly-annoying-or-boring subject-matter for parents, because we have to read them over and over again.

The best ones for us so far have been:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle
The Very Hungry Caterpillar (I know), by Eric Carle
The Very Busy Spider, by Eric Carle
Dr. Seuss ABC
Big Little, by Leslie Patricelli
Won't You Be My Kissaroo? By Joanne Ryder and Melissa Sweet

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[wildeyed]

1. Goodnight Moon

I love it, know it by heart. The cadence is very soothing. Big colorful pictures. When baby gets older, he can look for the mouse that resides in every picture.

[mzmolly]

23. Ditto.

:hi:

[The empressof all]

2. Pat the Bunny

My daughter loved it. It's interactive!

I second Good Night Moon

and there's always Prudence and the Potty which was a great favorite. (I'm sure there's a male version)

My daughter loved the Very Hungry Caterpillar too!

[SarahB]

18. Pat the Bunny is great.

It offers tactile stimulation paired with language.

Look for books with bright colors and contrasting colors which can help stimulate neural connections.

[Coexist]

25. we wore out two copies of Pat the Bunny in my house! that and

I loved reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to infants because they seem to like the way your voice automatically goes into a cadence with the rhyme - and the bright colors on the pages are eye-catching.

[knowbody0]

3. Ferdinan the Bull

[Maine-ah]

4. rolly polly pig - it's a pop-up & rhymes

I also found that if I lay my daughter flat on the bed, and I lay down beside her, and hold the book abover her head, she tends to be more interested. She'll grab pages, and really explore the book more.

[LiberalinNC]

5. Anything by Eric Carle..my favorite are:

The Very Quiet Cricket,

Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me,

Grouchy Ladybug


Too many to list....check out: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?z=y&SAT=31&SZE=10&WRD=eric+carle

I have such wonderful memories of my daughters reading these books at very early ages!!!

[bleedingheart]

13. gosh I love The Grouchy Ladybug...

[Dora]

6. Babybug magazine, and some book suggestions

It's great! We just received a gift subscription, and my son loves it. It's perfect for infants and toddlers. http://www.cricketmag.com/ProductDetail.asp?pid=10

My son's favorite books, and books I also enjoy -

I Like Cats
Click Clack Splish Splash
Wiggle
Polar Bear, Polar Bear
Everywhere Babies
Art (better for toddler age)

[fight4my3sons]

7. My boys all loved the "That's not my _______" series.

I don't know whe writes them. They are board books with touch and feel parts. They had That's not my doggie, dragon, tractor, ect. They also like the books by Todd Parr who does the Todd World stuff. The pictures are very bright. We have a lot of Eric Carle, Richard Scary, Maurice Sendak, Dr. Suess, Maisy.
When they were very young they liked books with other babies in them.
Have fun with your little one :-)

[trotsky]

8. Another vote for Goodnight Moon... my gosh, he's 10 weeks old already?

Sheesh, seems literally like just a few weeks ago you announced your wife was pregnant with him! How time flies.

And really, you can't go wrong with ANY Dr. Seuss. Check garage sales and snap them up.

[lostnfound]

9. My son & I both loved "I love you as much" by Laura Krauss Melmed.

Is it sappy? Yes. But sweet and comforting, too, great for a bedtime snuggle, and rich in meaning for those inclined to be open to it.


A couple of reviews:

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1-Written in quatrains that break into couplets across each double page, this lullaby rhyme catalogues various animals and their offspring, describing each mother's testament of love. The mountain nanny goat says, "'I love you as much as the mountain is steep'"; the camel says, "'I love you as much as the desert is dry.'" The book ends with a full quatrain of love poetry from a woman to her newborn child. Sorensen's paintings are large and bright, spanning double-page spreads and extending to the edge of each page, with full backgrounds and panoramic views that enhance the animal characters. The deep tones, well-lit landscapes (which contrast effectively with the darkness of the final picture), and the multiple layers of opaque paint suggest a formality of portraiture that is not usually seen in children's books. The text, which is discretely tucked away in the corners of the pages where it does not interrupt the effect of the illustration, is set in a decorative italic font. The potential for sentimentality is certainly present, but Melmed carefully avoids the cute and tearful. While reading this book is certainly a satisfying experience, full of pathos and meaning for parents, it's likely to appeal more to them than to their children.
Ruth K. MacDonald, Quinnipiac College, Hamden, CT
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Publishers Weekly
A soothing poem extolling the comfort of a mother's love forms the heart of this gentle picture book.... A tender lullaby that may come in for wear and tear from the hugs of grateful young readers. Ages 3 mos.-up. (starred review) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

[CoffeeCat]

10. My infant loved...

"Rainbow Fish" when she was an infant. The book contains cool, foil pictures of the
fish, and she was always mezmerized by the sparkle. She was always grabbing at the
pictures.

Byron Barton board books are fabulous for infants. They sport colorful, simple illustrations. "Planes" and "The Three Bears" rock!
Here is a link to his books on Amazon--to give you a feel for the illustrations.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/103-5293912-4264635?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Byron+Barton

What about Sandra Boyton? You can't beat her illustrations and her hilarious rhyming stories. Most of her books
are board books, so they're durable (plus they make great coasters). "Pajama Time" is wonderful---"Pajamy to the left,
pajamy to the right, you can have a party in your dreams tonight...it's pajama time!" Also, the "Going to Bed" book (by
Boynton) is really soothing and wonderful to read before bed time.

"My Love For You" board book was a big hit with our babies. Plus, it's a counting book.
Here's a link--that shows pages of the book.
http://www.amazon.com/My-Love-You-Board-Book/dp/0803723520/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-5293912-4264635?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175746049&sr=8-2

"Dinosaur Roar" is a must have! A totally fun book. You can search inside the book at this amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-Roar-Board-Henrietta-Stickland/dp/0525458344/ref=pd_sim_b_2/103-5293912-4264635?ie=UTF8&qid=1175746049&sr=8-2

"Hooray for Truck Mice!" is so cute. Adorable illustrations. How can you go wrong with cute mice who
drive trucks? Linky--- http://www.amazon.com/Hooray-Truckmice-Wong-Herbert-Yee/dp/0395984041/ref=sr_1_1/103-5293912-4264635?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175746471&sr=1-1

There are so many great ones!

[bleedingheart]

14. Boynton is great for babies and toddlers...my kids loved the Barnyard one

gosh....they grow up too fast!

[Sabriel]

11. At that age, try more graphics, less text

I know it's boring for the parents, but at that age, you're basically showing how to track and focus on an object. So vary the text-heavy stuff with graphically interesting pages. Later, you can move more in the rhyming, pattern, and predicting texts.

I'm thinking of Look, Look! (and others):

http://www.amazon.com/Look-Peter-Linenthal/dp/0525420282/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-9544964-6447347?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175916203&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Animals-Black-White/dp/0881063134/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/102-9544964-6447347?ie=UTF8&qid=1175916443&sr=1-6


Also Margaret Miller's books, like Baby Faces

http://www.amazon.com/Look-Peter-Linenthal/dp/0525420282/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-9544964-6447347?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175916203&sr=8-1

Congratulations! I miss that age.

[oregonjen]

12. "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch

I read that book over and over to both of my children. Holding your baby in your arms and reading this book will stir up so many emotions. I still cry while reading it at work to my pre-school children!

[gollygee]

15. My daughter's favorite book as a baby and toddler

was "Counting Kisses" by Karen Katz. It's about a baby getting ready for bed and the baby gets kisses from each family member. Babies love books about babies, plus it names body parts and they like that (Like "Four kisses on chubby, yummy knees).

Any ones that are songs are great. My daughter just turned 5 and still likes to look at some of her old board books that are songs and she'll sing along to them - The Bear Went Over the Mountain, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, Old MacDonald, etc. She loved those when she was a baby and toddler too.

Eric Carle is great but I see you've got him.

Mother Goose rhymes are great for babies because of the rhyming and alliteration, but you might want to skip over some because some of the themes are a bit potentially scary for little kids (there are some about spanking for instance and I'm not comfortable normalizing violence against children around my daughter). Most of them are great but they are old after all and cultural norms have changed.

[tigereye]

16. just wait til he's older and you have to read the Little Golden Books

a million times! I was talking like Grover, Big Bird and the Count, for months! Well, actually for a few years!


Ones with silly rhymes are good, even if the baby doesn't understand, the rhythm of the words is intriguing and probably a good language precursor.

[ourbluenation]

17. At this age, you could just read him the newspaper. seriously.

or the sears catalog.

but if you really want a book, my kids both loved anything by Dr Seuss. (and truth be told, I liked them too!)

But on you will go
up many a frightening creek
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

(Dr. Seuss)

[cally]

19. I'll second the Pat the Bunny Recommendation

and also the hard board books with baby's expressions and single words. I had several and they loved those. Get ready to be bored. You'll read the stories a hundred times and soon they will realize when you skip pages.

[blondeatlast]

20. Anything you can get your hands on! Read the latest novel or

political book you've been anticipating; just the sound of your voice will do the trick (I'm an ex-librarrian and teacher, fwiw).

I first started reading my son "baby" type books until I complained to a librarian friend that I seemd to have no time for reading what I wanted. She suggested I read "Sick Puppy" (I'm the biggest fan of Carl Hiaasen there is) to my son and that he'd love it--and he did, especially when he heard me laughing out loud at what I'd read!

[wildeyed]

21. I read my baby poetry.

The adult kind, but she seemed to enjoy it. I guess the cadence was nice for her and I got something out of it, too.

[xmas74]

22. By the time my daughter was one

her favorites were anything by Laura Numeroff, especially If You Give a Pig a Pancake or any of her moose books.

My favorite book to read her was The Naughty Bunny by Richard Scarry. Here's a link to the book. http://www.amazon.com/Richard-Scarrys-Naughty-Concepts-Storybooks/dp/0307620921

Without this link you'll find some rather interesting sites about naughty bunnies.

[mzmolly]

24. Well, I know this is a late response, but my only suggestion is not to over stimulate.

Could make for some tired cranky stuff later on. ;)

[Tab]

26. With all due respect

he's just 10 weeks old.

Bright primary colors, and and engaging voice is really all you need.

[semillama]

27. our 14 week old just recently got into being read to

The book that broke the ice was "BaBaHaHa."

http://www.babahaha.com/

He now also likes One Fish Two Fish.

And check out this one - The Space Child's Mother Goose:

http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/24/1454251

A couple of the poems:

Little Jack Horner
Sits in a corner
Extracting cube roots to infinity,
An assignment for boys
That will minimize noise
And produce a more peaceful vicinity.

--------------------------------------------------

Little Miss Muffet
Sits on her tuffet
In a nonchalant sort of a way.
With her force field around her
The spider, the bounder,
Is not in the picture today.

--------------------------------------------------

This is the way the Physicist rides:
a quantum, a quantum, a quantum.
This is the way the Agronomist rides:
I plant 'em, I plant 'em, I plant 'em.
This is the way the Philosopher rides:
O Plato! O Plato! O Plato!
This is the way that the Rocketman rides:
JATO! JATO!! JATO!!
(QUANTUM: The quantum is only a tittle or jot: On a
little theory hangs a lot.)