Great Australian author, Mem Fox, is passionate about reading to babies from birth and the magic it creates. She believes reading with your child, or any child, has wonderful effects on the babies development. Of course many studies confirm the value of reading aloud to very young children especially in the cognitive area. Mem says"I'd like to deemphasize the brain for a while by focusing yet again on the heart and the role that emotional factors play in the development of literacy...on intangible, affective influences on reading because I believe it's time someone stood up and told those miserable, measurable, cognitive factors they've had more then their fair share of our time for years, with precious little to show for it other than an appalling level of illiteracy and a high level of cultural ignorance." Mem Fox in “Radical Reflections”, 1993.
So what books are good to read to babies? Basically any picture books you enjoy reading.
I like:
I Went Walking by Sue Machin
Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
Spring is Here by Taro Gomi
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? by Bill Martin Jr
Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy by Lynley Dodd
Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
Baby Faces by DK Publishing
and of course books by Mem Fox like:
Where is the Green Sheep and
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes
- For more information on Why you should be reading to children get
Reading Magic by
Mem Fox
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