by Rebecca K.

Created on: October 20, 2009   Last Updated: June 16, 2010

It is really never too early to foster a love of books in your baby or child. I started reading to my son when he was old enough to sit up on my lap on his own, probably between six-eight months. Now as a two-year old he is absolutely a book nut! He will request "book, book, book" throughout the day and wants you to read at least tree in a row if not more. In fact, once you start reading with him he doesn't want to stop and gets upset. I'd much rather this than him wanting TV all the time though.

Our first books for him were: "Goodnight Moon, and Dr. Suess' -Go Dog Go, Hop on Pop, The Tooth Book, Mr. Brown Can Moo" and more. They are made of cardboard are are more durable than paper books for when your child hits toddlerhood and gets pretty rough on things. The great thing about them also is they rhyme and are short enough to keep a younger child's attention. I've tried reading him longer books like "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish", but it rambles and tends to turn him off at this age.

Another of our favorites is the "Very Hungry Caterpillar." There is a lot you can teach a kid from this book like pointing out the sun and moon, leaf and naming the different kinds of fruits. The more you read to your child the more vocabulary words and phrases they learn. Pretty soon your kid could be saying "Butterfly."

It is also nice to mix up regular books with one that has some numbers in it as well. My son is nuts over anything farm or tractor related, so I got him a cardboard book that counts farm animals and at the end is 10 tractors! He likes to page through the book and when he gets to the last page he says, "Tractor, tractor, tractors!" This way he gets introduced to numbers in a way that is interesting to him instead of rather just looking at flashcards or something.

There are many great kids books on the market today. Look for ones that rhyme, are durable and aren't too long or wordy. Pretty soon your little one will surprise you by repeating phrases when you get to that page and telling you what the pictures are of. Reading is also a great time to cuddle as your child can sit on your lap, it is really a great experience for both of you.

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