Books for Babes: What We Do and Why

Books for Babes...  Here is what we do and why we do what we do!

What we do:
Reading aloud to a child can make a world of difference in the life of that child.  That is why Books for Babes has set out to provide every baby with its first book.  We partner with hospitals to provide books to babies.  Currently we are providing books to the moms and babies in the maternity ward at University Hospital as well as the NICU at Norton Women's and Kosair Children's Hospital on Dutchman's Lane.

Why we do it:

First, babies love books! It's true.  They love to hear your voice, they love to cuddle in your lap, they love the attention.  They love everything about being read to so we should try to make it a part of our daily routine.  It is a great way to bond with baby. Plus all the attention and cuddles from reading aloud are good for mom too! 

Second, reading to your baby will help develop language skills and pre-reading skills (like how to turn a page and hold a book).  Our children often come to kindergarten not ready to learn to read.  Let's use books to start conversations with our kids and let them hear words and language they may not get otherwise.  

Lastly, reading aloud creates a love of reading.  When children hear their parent's voice reading aloud to them it is a comforting feeling.  They associate it with happiness and love.  Therefore as they become readers themselves they will find happiness in reading, just like they did when they were read aloud to.  

The Future:

We do not stop want to stop at giving books to hospitals.  We want to work with daycares also. We want to not just give the metaphorical fish but teach people how to fish.  We aim to one day provide classes to parents and daycare workers to show them how to read aloud to their baby and teach them that it is just as important as reading to your school age child.  These two aspects (the books and the classes) can help parents to read aloud, creating a special bond between parent, child and book.

How you can help:

We need books!  Last year we were able to give out over 350 books and we want to beat that this year.  We take new or gently used board books.  If you don't have the time to go shop for board books, make a donation and we can shop for you! 

Consider hosting a book drive.  If you work for a school who needs a service project or know a high schooler who needs a service project, tell them about us! We would love to have a school sponsor a book drive!

Spread the word.  Please tell your friends and family about what we are doing here at Books for Babes.  The more people that know the more moms and babies we can help!

Thanks and Happy Reading!

Fun Words

When picking out a board book for your littlest baby sometimes it is good to try to find a book that has really fun language and a rhythmic text.  Any book that is more song-like than book-like is a good choice.  Babies find the rhythm calming and the more fun words we can get into our babies ears the better.

Dancing Feet by Lindsey Craig is a perfect example of a book with fun words and rhythmic text.  Dancing Feet is a sing-songy book about animals, their feet and the sounds their feet might make.  The book includes repetition, silly words and rhyme, three things little babies love in their books! It is so fun to read words like tippity, thumpity and stompity and the question and answer format will engage a baby's curiosity.   Your baby will be sure to clap along to this fun read aloud.  At first it was always the book my daughter picked off the shelf to read and now she is saying, "again" when it is finished.  Even the pictures, by illustrator Marc Brown, appeal to kids. I love the footprints that trail throughout the book and the big animal feet that are on the question pages.  His illustration help give clues to the children about what animal it might be dancing around.

Lindsay Craig and Marc Brown have also collaborated to make Farmyard Beat a book very similar using farm animals.

Happy Reading!
Laura

Reading to Babies

I just came across this video of parents reading aloud to their babies in the NICU... seriously gave me chills.  This is what I want to encourage ALL parents to do.  Reading aloud to our new babies does not only give them access to the language they need for growing and learning but it is a way to bond and fall in love.  Please spread the word and considering donating a book to Books for Babes!

In the video they are reading Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, a classic baby board book. Here are some other classics by Margaret Wise Brown.

Runaway Bunny

A sweet tale of a little bunny trying to get away from his mama, only to realize she will always be there.

Good Night Little One 

A soft, poetic bedtime story for all little ones.

Big Red Barn

With text similar to Good Night Moon, only this is set on the farm.  All the animals are there playing during the day and then slowly getting ready for sleep as the sun goes down.








Happy Reading!
Laura

Read from Birth

One reason I wanted to start this blog was to encourage parents to read to their children, no wait scratch that- I want parents to read to their BABIES and as soon as they are born.  Reading to babies, toddlers, and kids makes such a difference in so many aspects of their life.

Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics has my back.  They are recommending that parents begin reading to their children at birth.  Here is a great article from the Huffington Post.  Books are Just a Start, explains the decision of the AAP why reading is so good for our BABIES.

The article lists so many positives from bonding, to better brain development.  But what I like best is at the end.  It is not just parents who need to read to babies but also the people who care for these babies while mom and dad are at work.

What do you think? When did you start reading to your child?
How can we encourage parents and other caregivers to read to babies?

Happy Reading!

Laura

First picture of my son being read to.  He was not even one week old.  

Something for the Little Ones

I have spent all of my time on this blog so far sharing books for school aged children.  Now I want to share with you two books that my 15 month old loves.  That's right my 15 month old already has favorite books.

I began reading to my child at birth.  I guess some could argue I read to him even before birth with all the reading aloud I did in my classroom.  There is a lot of research being done right now about the benefits of reading aloud to babies, not just children.

Two of my son's favorite books are Llama, Llama Nighty Night and Llama, Llama Zippity Zoom both by Anna Dewdney.

I am not quite sure why he loves these books so much.  Perhaps it is the rhyme and rhythm or the silly words.  Maybe he just likes llamas but these are two books that we read multiple times EVERYDAY!  He will even find the books himself, sit in his rocking chair and "read" the books to himself saying, "llama, llama."

Llama, Llama Nighty Night is your basic bedtime story.  Llama is going through his bedtime routine of bath, brushing teeth and reading a story.  Llama, Llama Zippity Zoom shows Llama having fun with his friend.  It uses silly words like Screech! Clunk!  Beep! and Bop! At the end Llama and is friend take a break for popsicles!

If you have a baby at home try out these two books and let me know what you think because they get 2 big thumbs up from us!

What books are your toddler's favorite?

Happy Reading!

Laura