It is an ordinary day. You pick up your kids from school and head home.
Once you get home, your kids rush into the house, drop their bags, and immediately turn on the TV. They are waiting for their favorite TV cartoon show.
Whenever you try to tell them to do their homework, they start whining and complaining, telling you how tired they are after school, and they will do their homework after dinner.
After dinner, when you are supposed to rest after a long day, you have to struggle with your kids’ homework. You have to learn and then teach them. Everything is in the book, you don’t understand why they don’t read their books first.
You are on the edge of exhaustion. You ask them to read the books themselves but they start begging and telling you how they cannot understand the books.
“But you haven’t even read it!” – You exclaimed.
Making kids love books is much more difficult than it was a few years ago. With so many distractions, TV, smart devices, YouTube, games, toys, kids love those colorful things and they do not often jump to open a book.
Well, not my son.
My son loves reading books. Every time I get home from work, he would come and greet me, then hold my hand or my clothes to drag me near his toy box.
He grabs one book from his toy box and turns over, sits down on my lap, and makes me read the book for him.
My most powerful tip: start early.
Ethan got his first book when he was only 1.5 months old. I never skip reading for him. Now he is 20 months old and he owns more than 30 books, plus all the books that I already bought to wait for him.
My son is surrounded mostly by books, not toys. But not all the books will do the work, Ethan has his favorite books and there are some books he barely touches.
If you also want to get your kids to read books at an early age, I’ve gathered a list of more than 20 best books for kids under 1 year old. Ready to see them?
The very hungry caterpillar
Guess how much I love you
Black Bird Yellow Sun
The Going to Bed Book
Summer Evening
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
First 100 Words
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes
Llama Llama Home with Mama
Dear Zoo
Rod Campbell's classic lift-the-flap book Dear Zoo has been a firm favorite with toddlers and parents alike ever since it was first published in 1982.
Moo Baa La La La
Counting Kisses
Roar, Roar, Baby!
Look, Look!
On My Leaf
My Very First Book of Numbers
Don't forget to give your baby some cloth books, so that he can get hands-on and start learning to flip pages without getting paper cut.
These books below are some great sets.
Cloth Books for Babies
Lamaze Peek-A-Boo Forest
Tips to choose the best books for toddlers under 1-year-old
Remember your baby is not fully developed yet. And babies cannot maintain their focus for a long time.
So don’t rush. He might not look at the book when you read it for him, but you don’t have to do everything to draw his attention. Just keep reading and finish it with positive vibes.
Remember, to raise healthy and happy kids, you have to be healthy and happy too. Don’t stress yourself over small things. If you are not tired, try to read at least one book for your baby. But if you are exhausted, skip for a day until you feel better.
Tips for selecting books for toddlers under 1-year-old
Sturdy
The pages are thick or made of cloth.
Simple and large illustrations: toddlers are not like adults who can admire the most sophisticated artwork. Get your little ones a book with simple and large illustrations, easy to focus on.
Colors
As young toddlers cannot tell the difference between different colors when they are little, you can get some black and white books with high contrast so that your kids can tell the shapes.
However, as your toddlers grow a little bigger, get a book with bright and beautiful colors
Characters
Ideally, you should get some books with simple content. No drama is needed.
Interactive
Once your little one grows up a little, he will want to participate in the reading. Consider books having some interactive activities, such as flip-and-flap, sound buttons, etc.
Tips to make reading fun for both parents and toddlers
Your toddlers will rely on you to do the work 100%. And your attitude plays an important role in deciding if your toddlers will like reading books or not.
Some tips to make reading fun for both parents and kids
Read often but only a few minutes
Not only this will help your babies to focus better, but it also reduces the stress on your shoulders. You don't have to get a super thick fairy tale book to read, just a few pages and few sentences will do great work.
Make reading time is bonding time
Hug and kiss your baby spontaneously while reading will help to make the bond between parents and baby.
Choose a good book
Get the book that you like and enjoy reading too. When you are excited, your kid will feel it too.
Ask question, point to the character and tell the stories
By doing this, you will help your baby to start using his brain for a certain problem.
Make face expressions, change the tone of voice, make funny sounds while reading
This makes your baby think that reading is really fun.
My son loves books and he is very smart
I'm not sure if these two are interrelated, but my son can flip through the pages well. He remembers stories in the books. He knows the stories just by looking at the covers so that he can select the books he wants to read.
I truly believe that reading books at such an early age will have a significant impact on him.