Baby Read: Baby Learn and Play

So here's a book that probably says a lot about how well I handled children before I had one of my own. Baby Play and Learn by Penny Warner was first published in 1999 and has gone through a few editions since then. It is simply what it says it is, games and activities you can use to play with your baby and get them to learn in the process. The sections are broken down by age groups, birth to 3 months, 3 to 6 months and so on; and each section contains age appropriate activities. Some activities will be familiar, such as Pat-a-Cake or This Little Piggy; others would never have occurred to me, such as putting stickers on my face and letting baby look at them.

But why would you need a book to play with your child? Shouldn't this come naturally to you? Not in my case. I grew up as an only child (I have a sister now, but she's five) and I didn't really have much exposure to babies. As you can imagine, the result is someone who is rather awkward with kids. Therefore books like this one really help out a mom like me who may look at her baby some days and think, what do I do with you? Most of the games are easy with only a few supplies needed for some of the more elaborate ones. I would suggest to the authors to include links to youtube videos to give examples of the tunes for the songs they suggest, some of them I'd never heard of.

Baby Read: It's a Book

This is the first picture book I bought for my little man when I was pregnant for him. I ran across it as I was going through the new picture books purchased by the library that month. The story features a jackass who keeps pestering a monkey about what that thing in his hand is (a book, obviously) and his assumption that it must be some kind of electronic device. Of course the monkey replies that no, it's a book.

It's a Book by Lane Smith calls attention to the fact that our children have so many more options when it comes to entertainment. Kids don't have to rely on just print books and toys, there's now iPhones, iPads, tablets, ereaders, laptops and a plethora of other devices and media competing for their attention. I'm in no way technophobic, but I can appreciate the exasperation of the monkey in this book. Getting this for the little one will give me an opportunity to talk to him about different kinds of media and the advantages and disadvantages of each type. Below is a book trailer for the book, but it essentially has all the text of the book. Enjoy!