The Best Books to Read to Your Baby

I started collecting books to read to Stella before she was born. I knew the research on early reading, but what I didn’t count on, was that she would have clear preferences right from the start. Her favorites clearly held her attention while some of my picks didn’t. Now that she has more bodily control than those early days, she’ll actually wrestle out of my arms, if I read anything that doesn’t meet her approval. And although I’m constantly trying new books on her, these have been the front-runners in our household.

It was amazing to see a newborn as utterly captivated by a book as Stella was with the Checkers and Dot series. Black and white stimulation is particularly important during those early months of life, and Stella loved these. I thought that it was just the black and white that interested her so I tried other books geared toward newborns. Nope. Nothing held her attention the way these did.

We were all about Checkers and Dot until Pout Pout Fish Stella loved the detailed illustrations and the long wordy rhymes (these are some of the lengthiest board books you’ll find!). Now, at nearly seven months, she actually laughs at the illustrations on her favorite pages. It’s pretty darn cute. The illustrations are detailed and she loves the big fishy eyes on Pout Pout Fish. In the series, we love Pout Pout Fish Christmas. The Pout Pout FIsh in the Big Dark is another fun one (although oddly, the rhyming isn’t carried through to the very end.) We learned the hard way that Pout Pout Fishes “mini” adventures do not hold the same charm as the other books — the illustrations and the rhymes are both simplified.

A recent favorite is the Llama Llama books. We found our way to the series through the Christmas book: Llama Llama Holiday Drama. And the first book in the series is also a hit, Llama Llama Red Pajama. The is a nice rhythm to the rhymes that she really enjoys and that I find fun to read.

And just a little note about when we read: Currently, books are not part of our nighttime routine. We read books throughout the course of the day as an activity. Sometimes I read to Stella while she’s playing, sometimes she’s on my lap or sometimes on her stomach. But so far, it’s been a stimulating activity for us rather than a wind-down activity. I’m sure that change as Stella gets older, but now, bedtime is bath, massage, and relaxing music.