What type of books are most appropriate for a newborn?

Reading is an important skill for future learning. Here are some tips for choosing good books for infants and toddlers. Parents, caregivers, and guardians may find these tips helpful.

The following tips sheet is provided courtesy of the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL).

Infants: Birth to 6 Months

• Content. Choose books with large pictures or bright and bold illustrations set against a contrasting background. Look for books that have simple pictures, one per page.
• Language. Infants will enjoy looking through wordless picture books, or books that have just a single word along with a big picture. But also try books that contain phrases or short sentences. It's important for infants to hear language. Nursery rhymes and verse books are good for this age, too.
• Design. Books for infants should be interesting and appealing to look at. Try stiff cardboard books, books with fold-out pages that create colorful panels, cloth or soft vinyl books, and books with handles.
• Reading Aloud. Infants want your full attention, so try reciting rhymes and songs that you remember by heart. Also, try reading to your infant while she has a toy to hold. Reading at bedtime is always a nice way to end the day!

Infants: 7 to 12 Months

• Content. Children this age will enjoy books with medium to large photos and bright, bold illustrations. Look for books that have simple drawings of familiar things, actions, and events.
• Language. Children begin to key into content and can relate pictures to their world. While they still enjoy picture books, try some books with simple stories that have one line of text per page.
• Design. Infants this age like to handle cloth and vinyl books, and cardboard books with stiff, thick pages.
• Reading Aloud. As your baby gets older, try this four-part interaction sequence:
  1. Get your baby's attention by pointing out something in a book. ("Look!")
  2. Ask a labeling question. ("What's that?")
  3. Wait for your baby to respond, verbally or non-verbally. If necessary, provide the answer yourself. ("That's a monkey!")
  4. Acknowledge your baby's response. ("Yes" or repeat your baby's word.) If your baby mislabels the picture, correct him in a positive manner. ("Yes, it's brown like a dog, but it's a monkey.")

Keep in mind that you may not get through a whole book in one reading. As your child starts to explore books, support her progress by watching, listening, and acknowledging.

Infants: 12 to 18 months

• Content. For children this age, try books with pictures of familiar characters, like animals, children, TV characters, or adults in familiar roles. Look for books that have action pictures - your baby is starting to be able to enjoy pictures with more details.
• Language. This is a great age to try books with songs and repetitive verses. Books that have a simple story line that relates to your child's own experiences will also have appeal. You might also look for theme books that show a series of related pictures and a few words. These books follow a progression of simple activities, but don't try to introduce a plot or complex storyline.
• Design. Even though your baby is growing fast, she'll still enjoy playing with books with handles and books with stiff, thick pages. And she'll still like having these books read to her. Books with thinner pages that are plastic-coated are also a good choice for this age.
• Reading Aloud. Your infant will probably still enjoy reading with you as he sits on your lap or close to you in a comfortable chair. This helps your baby associate reading with feeling secure. Connecting sounds with the pictures he sees in the books will make reading together even more fun. Make your own sounds, and don't be surprised if your baby joins in! You may also notice your child looking through the book alone and making noises (sometimes called "book babble").

Toddlers: 19 to 30 Months

• Content. Toddlers will continue to enjoy books with familiar characters, but they also will begin to take interest in pictures filled with information, action, and detail. Try some short stories, cause and effect stories, and fictional books that describe a problem or circumstance to overcome.
• Language. Try predictable books with repeated text, words that rhyme, and pictures that correspond to the text. Books with songs and repetitive verses are still a good choice for this age.
• Design. Toddlers can enjoy books with paper pages—but will still like books with a picture on every page and just a little bit of text.
• Reading Aloud. Let your toddler decide if she wants to sit on your lap while you read, or next to you on the couch or floor. Follow her cues. Talk about the characters and events in the story, relating them to your child's own experiences. Pause when you read aloud to let your child fill in a word or phrase. This works great with rhyming and repetitive books.

Written by the National Center for Family Literacy.

Why reading with babies is important

Reading books, talking about pictures, sharing stories, and singing rhymes and songs help your baby’s development in many ways.

Doing these activities every day helps your baby get familiar with speech sounds, words, pictures and books. This builds your baby’s early language skills and early literacy skills and helps them go on to read successfully later in life.

Reading stories also stimulates your baby’s imagination and helps them learn about the world around them. It’s a great time for you to bond with your baby and share time together too.

You can start reading aloud to your baby early – the earlier the better. Our article on reading stories with babies and children has more information to get you started.

What to expect from reading, sharing books and storytelling with babies

As babies develop in the first year of life, the way they engage with books changes.

In the first 3 months, your baby might enjoy sitting on your lap and gazing at the pictures while you slowly read aloud. Your baby might pay attention to the book for only a few minutes.

By 6 months, your baby will start to take a more active role in story time. Your baby might grab, pat, handle or even try to chew books. Your baby might communicate with you by cooing, babbling and smiling.

By 9 months, your baby will start to engage more directly with the words and pictures in books. For example, your baby might babble while looking at pictures or try to lift up flaps. Your baby will also want to hold books and try to turn pages.

By 12 months, your baby will love being involved in story time. Your baby can turn the book the right way up, point to pictures, and make animal noises or car and truck sounds. Your baby might even enjoy looking at books by themselves. Your baby will like to carry books around (if they’re walking) and will probably want you to read their favourite books many times.

Tips for reading, sharing books and storytelling with babies

Here’s how you can help your baby learn and develop through reading with you:

• Follow your baby’s lead, read slowly and spend time looking at the pictures after you read the words. This lets your baby focus on the sounds and shapes of words and also on pictures.
• Turn the pages slowly when you read with your baby. This shows your baby how to use a book.
• Point out, name and talk about familiar and new things your baby sees on the page, instead of only reading the words. For example, ‘That’s a bunny. Look. The bunny is hopping away’.
• Change the tone of your voice as you read. This makes it easier for your baby to notice different speech sounds, which is an important step towards learning to talk.

Here are general tips to help you make the most of reading time with children:

• Make a routine, and try to share at least one book every day. A special space where you and your child go to read – with a box of books and something comfortable to sit on – can help with establishing your routine.
• Turn off the TV or radio, put your phone on silent, and find a quiet space so your child can hear your voice.
• Use gestures and facial expressions to get your child’s attention and add meaning to words and pictures.
• Try out funny noises and sounds – play and have fun!
• Make connections between the pictures in books and your child’s life. For example, you could say, ‘There’s a teddy. You’ve got a teddy like that, haven’t you?’
• Hold your child close or on your knee while you read, so they can see your face, your gestures and the book.
• Be guided by your child’s interest. There’ll be days when your child doesn’t feel like reading, and that’s OK.
• Be prepared to read the same story over and over. Young children like repetition, and it helps them learn.

Visit your local library – it’s free to join and borrow books. The staff will be able to recommend age-appropriate books for you and your baby to enjoy. Many libraries also offer free story time sessions for babies and their parents or carers.

Books for babies

In general, babies enjoy and benefit from books that have good rhymes, regular rhythm and repetition. Rhymes, rhythm and repetition emphasise the way words sound, which helps with language development.

From when your baby is born, you might like to look for books that:

• have bright colours or simple, large and high-contrast pictures like black and white pictures – these are interesting and easy for babies to focus on
• have different textures so your baby can hear, see and feel the book
• have pictures of babies and faces
• are made of stiff cardboard and have only a few pages – these are easy for babies to hold and handle
• have themes that babies can relate to, like books about bathing, feeding, playing and spending time outside.

Here are books your baby might enjoy:

• Aussie babies can by Magabala Books
• Boo! by Margaret Wild
• Brown bear brown bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin Junior
• Crocodile beat by Gail Jorgensen
• Everywhere babies by Susan Meyers
• How many kisses do you want tonight? by Varsha Bajaj
• I went walking by Sue Machin
• Moo, baa, la la la! by Sandra Boynton
• Polar bear polar bear, What do you hear? by Bill Martin Junior
• Ten little fingers and ten little toes by Mem Fox
• Ten little owls by Renee Treml
• Walking through the jungle by Julie Lacome
• Who? A celebration of babies by Robie Harris.

For more story ideas, let storyteller Anne E. Stewart introduce you and your baby to ‘Mook Mook the owl’, ‘The crocodile’ and ‘The old lady and the mosquito’.