We've all read about how babies are born with language skills - ready to go, practically from the moment they come into the world. Now, the wealth of books you'll find aimed at very young babies, typically a month old and on, should clue you in on the fact that it is considered accepted fact now that reading to your child helps them with important development processes - practically from day one. While most new parents are anxious to do everything in their power, there really is room there for a bit of confusion. How exactly are you supposed to find the right kids books to help your children along - if reading it to your child can affect the way their brains develop this much, then surely finding the right books to read should make all the difference.
Researchers are positive - not only is your decision to read to your child and your choice of material in kids books important, the loving warmth you ensconce your baby in, the cooing love of your reading voice and the right kind of pictures are all ingredients that go into the perfect brain developing reading experience for your baby. Very young children certainly can see as well as grownups do; but they do lack an appreciation for subtlety; babies are sure to understand large and attractive pictures of very simple color schemes - they like to see stripes, a checkered background, simple black-and-white or three-color drawings. And as few words as possible.
Now while babies do understand language to a certain degree, their interest tends more towards the emotional content of it. What this means is, that the rise and fall of your voice, the mood you tend to swathe your words in, the accidental word rhymes that happen to come in, are the things that most get their attention. Nursery rhymes with their simple and catchy rhymes and alliteration can grab your child's attention like nothing else. For the newborn baby, grab kids books like a copy of the The Real Mother Goose Board Book for its well trusted rhymes and riddles, enjoyed by children for perhaps centuries.
If you are a little disappointed by the incurious nature of your baby's participation at first, you'll begin to really catch a little involvement by the time your baby is about six months old. The involvement may not altogether be of the desired nature to begin with though - how does constantly trying to lick or chew her books sound? For the most involvement from your baby, find books with pictures your child is most likely to react to - large colorful fruit, Clifford or Elmo, books with no more than five words a page, and sometimes one word a page. How about the What-a-Baby series of Board Books that have lots of pictures of little babies in the middle of common activities you would see them in everyday?
Speaking of activities, how about getting activity books such as the touch-and-feel one called Pat the Bunny? Activity books have lots of surprises inside - they are more fun filled-activities than books really. Open a page and let your child feel something really soft stuck to a page there, open another and find something that looks like a small rubber toy stuck inside - it's all laugh-a-minute hilarity, and the few words that come up, you can be sure will help your child grow.