Babies Need Books

First of all, I must apologize for the lack of blogging lately. Has it been a month already?!! That's September for you, once you have someone in school. We've really kicked it up a notch in our business, too. But there's no excuses! I know that if I'm really serious about creating a blog that's worth coming to, I need to be more regular. I'm also hoping to make it a little less bland in appearance. If you have any feedback as to what would make this more interesting to you, please leave a comment or email me.

I've been reading a book from the library called "Babies Need Books" by Dorothy Butler. I'm finding it to be an excellent resource. Although the cover would suggest an outdatedness, the information inside is timeless. Basically, the author talks a little about why books are important for children from early on (if you haven't started yet, don't worry though!) and then she basically goes year by year talking about the different developmental stages and all the best books that are suitable for that stage.


What I love about this book is that I can take one of my kids' ages, look at her list, search for them at the library, and request them. This has a couple of benefits: I can just pick them up when they're in (either by myself or as part of a trip to the library with the kids), we get great books guaranteed, and we get access to books that aren't actually at our library.

I tried some from her 3-4 Book List. We discovered a new favorite author: Shirley Hughes. She's British, so there's some new vocabulary, but she has a fantastic understanding of children and ordinary family life. We enjoyed "Lucy and Tom's 123 and ABC", Alfie Wins a Prize, Annie Rose is my Little Sister, Ruby and the Parcel Bear, and Alfie's World among others. One of the funnest discoveries for my daughter and I was a collection of poems for Children gathered by Jill Bennett, called "A Cup of Starshine". We now have five or six poems we can say from memory together. Here's the craziest one:


No Harm Done

As I went out
the other day
My head fell off
and rolled away.

But when I noticed
it was gone,
I picked it up
and put it on.



Here's another one:


The Elephant

The elephant goes
Like this and that
He's terribly big
And terribly fat.

He has no fingers
He has no toes
But goodness gracious
What a nose!

I think my daughter will be an actress someday!

Some other books that I recommend: "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak...a classic that seems just perfect for little boys. While I'm talking about boys, mine have loved Byron Barton books as toddlers and now as early readers. Our favorites are "Machines at Work" and "My Car". The pictures are bold and bright and there is one or two phrases per page...perfect for short attention spans. We have read them over and over. He also retells the Three Bears (and Goldilocks), has a book on being an astronaut, and a cute story about the "Wee Little Woman".


By the way, when you're searching for books, it seems to work best to search by author and sort by Title. If you've never requested books or used the website before, Winnipeg Library can be found here. Go to the first menu called "Find Books & More" and choose "Search Catalogue". Once you've found a book you want, you can "Add to my List" (which you can access later at the top of the page) or you can request it right away. When requesting, make sure you change the library to your branch so that you don't have to go the Millenium Library to pick it up (unless that's your favorite one). You'll need your library card to make any requests.

Happy reading! And if you or your baby just aren't ready to get into reading together, don't worry about it. My third took a lot longer than my others, but he's now hooked, too! If you're the one having trouble wrapping your mind around a visit to the library, maybe requests by computer will be your new favorite way. The only thing to keep in mind is that you will get a couple of phone calls likely, telling you when the books have arrived. You have one week to pick them up or you get charged $1.15 per book. Other than that, it really can simplify life. And that's always a good thing.