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Reading to Babies & Toddlers with The Book People

Reading to Babies & Toddlers with The Book People

Ever since she was a tiny baby, Neve has shown a great fascination with books. Now 18 months old, books have become a very regular part of our daily routine, and not just as part of the countdown to bedtime. As well as playing with her favourite Tonies characters and Yoto cards, there are various points of the day where Neve will scoop up her latest favourite and quite literally reverse backwards onto my lap, contently plonking herself down for a snuggle and chanting “buhhhh”. She will sit contently for quite some time, and I savour every precious moment.

Benefits of reading to babies

Reading to babies and toddlers can be hugely beneficial for their development, and whilst Mike thought I was crazy to start reading to Neve as a newborn, there are many proven benefits of doing so. Thanks to The Book People, we’ve been putting some of their wide range of baby books to the test.

Why should I read to my baby/toddler?

  • Reading a book as part of your baby/toddler’s countdown to bedtime is the perfect way to create some quiet bonding time. Chances are this quiet calming activity will be a repeated signal that bedtime is approaching, and in the same way that brushing their teeth or putting on their pyjamas becomes part of their routine, the book will become a habitual trigger that it’s time to go to sleep.
  • Reading to babies and toddlers can help expand their vocabulary. At this young age, the more words they hear from you and the people around them, the more they will pick up and the faster their own speech will develop. Books with simple words that they hear around their home on a regular basis, can encourage them to make their very own first words. Start with simple words like Mum, Dad, Cup and Ball, and you will be surprised at how quickly they start to repeat them!
  • Introduce them to colours – Babies vision changes rapidly in those early weeks and months, and the bigger that they get, the more their sight develops. Reading to babies, especially books with contrasting colours, monochrome prints or bright pages can help stimulate their senses and teach them about colour and shade.
  • Introduce them to numbers – Counting together with your child, repetition, rhyme and rhythm all help get your toddler used to reciting numbers and helps develop their memory.
Reading to Babies - mirror book
  • Introduce the links between word and sound  – Books don’t have to be read in silence. Neve loves to dance, so books that combine turnable pages and a button that makes music or sounds are right up her street! They also helps babies and toddlers learn about cause and effect, with their action of pressing a button having a resulting sound or song.
  • Embrace their natural curiousity – Books with textures, interactive elements like mirrors, or flaps and doors to open are great for helping your baby explore and develop their natural curiosity – they will want to touch, to turn, and to pull open to reveal the image below. Whilst she can be a little heavy handed at times, Neve loves the surprise of lifting the flaps to see what hides behind!
Reading to babies - sound book
  • A familiar friend – As with most young children, Neve is a huge fan of Peppa Pig, and so books featuring familiar characters from the series are immediately comforting to her. Seeing characters on the pages that they they have previously warmed to, will help babies feel reassured by their familiarity. Neve likes to point at the characters she recognises (like Peppa, and Dorrrrggge”) as she flicks through the pages.
Reading to Babies - Characters Books
  • Encouraging Dexterity – Board Books, particularly chunky board books with handles which are easy to hold, are ideal for helping encourage dexterity – with even the chunkiest of fingers being able to turn and manipulate the pages.
  • ComfortReading to babies, especially younger ones, exposes them to the sound of your voice – something they’ve been comforted by in the womb for quite some time! Hearing you read (no matter what the content in fact) can be incredibly calming and comforting to a baby who is tired or distressed.
Reading to Babies - Board Books
  • Distraction -Reading to babies is an ideal way to keep children occupied where they may otherwise start to become distracted, restless or impatient. Books with a clip or hook that attaches to a pushchair or stroller are ideal, perfect whilst you’re waiting to pay at the shops. Unlike a traditional book, there is also less chance of them accidently getting lost or discarded!
Reading to Babies
  • Reading books with creative images, text or visuals can help stimulate your baby’s imagination and senses, helping them to learn more about the world around them.
  • Whilst babies have shorter attention spans (normally 10 minutes at a time is sufficient), reading to babies and toddlers is a great tool for developing listening skills, something which will prove valuable when they start preschool or nursery.
Reading to Babies
  • Most importantly, reading with your baby and using a range of voices, inflections and tones, helps your child learn that reading is fun – an important message and a strong life skill! 🙂
Reading to babies

However you decide to read with your baby, enjoy it. The baby days absolutely fly by, and before you know it they will be blending and learning to read on their own, and picture books will become phonics, and numbers become sums!

Reading to babies - sharing


*This post was sponsored by Book People*

There are many proven benefits of reading to young babies and toddlers including expanding vocabulary, encouraging listening skills, and teaching about colours, numbers, rhythm and rhyme. This extensive list of 13 benefits of reading to babies and toddlers will help you start your little ones reading journey today.

87 Comments

  1. Kayleigh Watkins

    Guess how much I love you is a favourite in our home xxx

    Reply
  2. Margaret GALLAGHER

    Goodnight Mr Fox – we would be thrilled

    Reply
  3. Tracy Nixon

    Room on a Broom!

    Reply
  4. EMMA WALTERS

    my little girl loves anything with animals in at the moment, we are reading spot a lot!

    Reply
  5. RaY Dodds

    Anything by Dr Seuss

    Reply
  6. Sadiyya Maryam

    Anything by Roald Dahl, classic and timeless.

    Reply
  7. Natalie

    My favourite book to read with my children is The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

    Reply
  8. Emma c

    I love reading books from my childhood – Dear Zoo is a favourite

    Reply
  9. Amanda bLackburn

    Such a great post. Love the photo’s and book choices. Reading is definitely so beneficial and The Book People are my favourite.

    Reply
  10. claire woods

    We love the Mr Men books and there are lots of them!

    Reply
  11. Nicola | Mummy to Dex

    Oh Lucy I love this! Dexter does exactly the same as Neve and will plonk himself on my knee with a book, it was one of his first words and he says it in such a scouse accent it’s hilarious! Couldn’t agree more that reading is so important and so beneficial to our toddlers!

    Reply
  12. iain maciver

    the gruffalo

    Reply
  13. Sandra Fortune

    The Goodnight Train my little grandson loves it

    Reply
  14. Sheila

    I couldn’t agree more!

    Reply
  15. Sheila d

    Percy the Park Keeper

    Reply
  16. Hannah Scudder

    Guess how much I love you

    Reply
  17. ClaIre Bayliss

    We have lots of favourite books but one of our most favourites has to be ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’

    Reply
  18. Laura Pritchard

    Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

    Reply
  19. carolyn heyworth

    Love to read ‘ The Gingerbread man

    Reply
  20. Lynne Manton

    Alfie Gives a Hand by Shirley Hughes is a big favourite

    Reply
  21. Laura Scott

    10 little teddies and never tickle a tiger

    Reply
  22. Karen Barrett

    My grandchildren love listening to Roald Dahl and the little ones love Suzies Shoes

    Reply
  23. Julie Davies

    My grandson Jacob loves anything with animals in it, especially the ones with flaps to lift

    Reply
  24. Kirsty Ward

    We love the Thats not my Books!

    Reply
  25. Alexandra Egan

    I love to read the Beatrix Potter books to my little boy. He’s naughty like Squirrel Nutkin!

    Reply
  26. Fay

    I don’t have any children but these would be lovely first books for my new nephew

    Reply
  27. hayley webb

    We are in love with the Beatrix Potter books at the moment

    Reply
  28. Margaret Clarkson

    Each peach, Pear. Plum

    Reply
  29. chris bull

    I read to my Grandchildren a book that was a favourite of my 2 daughters, No, No, Charlie Rascal, it’s fun and a bit noisy too

    Reply
  30. Sarah Mackay

    It would have to be The Cat in the Hat

    Reply
  31. Alana Walker

    All my children love reading The Enormous Turnip. I have to read it at least 3 times a week.x

    Reply
  32. Ren Taylor

    Room on the broom is our favourite

    Reply
  33. Lorna Ledger

    My Nephew has a book of weird facts that he loves to take everywhere! So we love to read that!

    Reply
  34. laura banks

    a book that my mum used to read to me called mervyn the mouse

    Reply
  35. Emily d

    Lovely prize. Would love to win!

    Reply
  36. Lisa Wilkinson

    The Ugly Five by Julia Donaldson

    Reply
  37. Lyn Burgess

    At the moment we are enjoying The Gruffalo’s Child

    Reply
  38. Michelle Smith

    Goldilocks and the three bears

    Reply
  39. Kerry Taylor

    My little boy keeps asking for scary stories. We love Spookyrumpus (which we can both recite without the book now, so we ‘read’ it in the dark under the covers, to add to the atmosphere!

    Reply
  40. Sophie Durrans

    I love reading Dear Zoo, Isla does all the noises!

    Reply
  41. Edward Guerreiro

    Anything from the Ladybird First Favourite Tales range. They are all great. I think The Three Little Pigs is loved the most though.

    Reply
  42. claire glace

    Ours is Chicken Licken x

    Reply
  43. Vikki Sanderson

    The hungry caterpillar

    Reply
  44. Rich Tyler

    STICK MAN

    Reply
  45. Tracey Belcher

    We love the Gruffalo

    Reply
  46. Kerryn j

    My granddaughter loves peppa pig

    Reply
  47. Deborah Curwen

    My son is 9.5 months and he favourite has to be one of the JellyCat books – Little Bunny Goes to the Moon. He has several bunny toys and loves when I bring the book to life by making bunny fly and make noises for the twinkling stars etc.

    Reply
  48. gemma hendry

    igglepiggle lost his blanket is my daughters fave book

    Reply
  49. leanne weir

    Anything by roald dahl

    Reply
  50. Tracey F

    Our favourite author is Julia Donaldson and our absolute favourite is Room on the Broom,I cannot tell you how many times we have read that book! X

    Reply
  51. Laura Bryant

    Gruffalo

    Reply
  52. Amanda Noble

    The goodnight Train and A Cat Called Christmas x

    Reply
  53. Tina Hewitt

    The Gruffalo

    Reply
  54. Amy denney

    Charlie chick

    Reply
  55. janine atkin

    the three little pigs 🙂 we all love it

    Reply
  56. Ruth Harwood

    We often read The tiger who came to tea or any of the Dr Seuss!

    Reply
  57. Craig Havery

    Disney’s Pocahontas

    Reply
  58. Linda Ford

    I love to read dear zoo to my nephews, we have great fun making animal noises!

    Reply
  59. Kim M

    We love Room On The Broom x

    Reply
  60. Lyndsey Cooksey

    My daughter, as does my little neice, always loved Elmer the Elephant ❤️ they always used to talk about the pretty colours and how much they loved Elmer!

    Reply
  61. Solange

    How To Catch A Star by Oliver Jeffers.

    Reply
  62. Kim Neville

    We like reading Topsy and Tim books

    Reply
  63. Sarah f

    I like reading all the books I used to have as a child – brings back so many memories. Owl Babies, Peace At Last, the Old Bear & Friends series!

    Reply
  64. Clare S

    My little girl loves Shark in the Park

    Reply
  65. Clare Hubbard

    The cat in the hat

    Reply
  66. Dean T

    Well kids on the way but I am looking forward to reading some Roald Dahl anything

    Reply
  67. Maria blythin

    the magic porridge pot x

    Reply
  68. Heidi Brown

    I just love guess how much I love you!

    Reply
  69. Jodi hill

    Timothy and the strong pyjamas by Vivian Schwartz is a firm favourite:)

    Reply
  70. sheri Darby

    The Very Hungry Caterpillar

    Reply
  71. Susan B

    The Very Hungry Caterpillar is our all time favourite book to read together. The children know the words off by heart.

    Reply
  72. Diana

    The Gruffalo 🙂

    Reply
  73. Andi Gurney

    Love reading the dancing tiger pictures are lovely

    Reply
  74. Amanda Gregory

    Mr Men and Little Miss books are favourites.

    Reply
  75. Carol Williams

    Reading is always a wonderful time.

    Reply
  76. donna l jones

    the hungry caterpillar

    Reply
  77. Leanne perrett

    my sons fave is called a squash and a squeeze by julia donaldson

    Reply
  78. Maria P

    Stick Man

    Reply
  79. Carly Belsey

    At the moment my daughter loves any book with the big bad wolf in it lol. Three little pigs, red riding hood etc

    Reply
  80. paula cheadle

    love the mr men and little miss books

    Reply
  81. Nicola Farrel

    My three year old loves there’s a monster in my book and the 8 month old likes that’s not my books!

    Reply
  82. Kerry h

    I loved The Rainbow Fish so I’ll need to get that for my book mad toddler.

    Reply
  83. Debi Newman

    I love the Room on a Broom x

    Reply
  84. Danielle Spencer

    The Gruffalo

    Reply
  85. lynn neal

    The Gruffalo

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Lucy, a thirty something mum of two from Birmingham. A memory maker, tradition keeper, stationery addict and Mr Men fanatic. HR Advisor by day and sleep deprived Mama by night!

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