Easy Guide To Choose Baby Picture Book

Many experts have said that babies need picture books. No ... they did not mean to ask the baby to read. Nor did they ask the baby to appreciate the story. Baby picture books were actually designed to be used as a toy.

Don't be surprised ! For babies, a book can be a toy.

An educational one.

Let's see how a picture book can be used as an educational baby toy:

First, it stimulates baby visually.

Remember that newborn babies can only see black and white ? Lots of baby picture books and flash cards are designed with this in mind, so the drawings are huge, and they are in black and white. The purpose ? To stimulate newborn vision. You can get picture books for your older babies too. Get the one with big drawings and lots of primary colors.

Secondly, it stimulates hearing. Some cloth books have bells which jingle when the books are shaked. Some board books also have battery in it so when you or your baby touches the book, it will play a song. These kind of book are not only good for hearing stimulation, but they also offer a cause-and-effect lesson to the baby.

Thirdly, it provides tactile stimulation.Some books have different textures embedded to them, so babies can feel different textures.

But, the benefit of introducing books since babyhood does not stop there. Here are the other benefits of it:

• Develop the love to books. This can be greatly enhanced when parents help the infant to associate that reading time = cuddle time. Your baby will look forward for a reading session everyday.
• Develop understanding on what books are and what to do with them, even for things as simple as flipping the book, or reading from front to back.
• Language immersion : develop baby's receptive language.

So what's an ideal baby picture book ?

• It has to have lots of drawings and very few words. The drawings should be in contrasting color and look interesting to catch their attention.
• Light or small enough for older babies to carry.
• No sharp edges.
• Embedding texture, flaps, bells, and musics are bonuses.
• Resistant to tearing, but are preferably soft: foam books, or cloth books are ideal. Wooden books and board books are also good, but you have to be very careful watching the baby handling those books because they can hurt themselves if they accidently hit their heads with those books. If the book is going to be used as a bath toy, get the book which is made from plastic so it is water-resistant.
• Short: just a couple of pages long since babies do not have long attention span.

For related articles, go to our baby educational toys section.

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