Baby Books Are Beneficial To Your Child's Development

100 years ago it might have seemed crazy to many people to read baby books to a newborn child.  In those days, there was very little widespread knowledge about the importance of reading to toddlers.  But today, the research is clear; reading to newborn children captures their imagination and helps them develop quicker than children who aren't read to.

With so many studies and so much research supporting this new understanding of the importance of reading to babies, new or expecting mothers will want to start a collection of baby books, picture books, and even waterproof bathtub books to expose their toddler to the joys of reading at the earliest age possible.

In fact, many mothers today don't wait until their baby is born to begin reading to them.  "In utero" reading is becoming more and more common -- and while some may snicker at the practice of reading to the baby-to-be before it is even born, child development research suggests that it is beneficial to both the baby's early development, and in forming a more secure and loving bond between mother and child.

In general, even infant children, no more than three weeks old, will usually calm down and enjoy the experience of being read to by mommy.  In addition to the calming, repetitive sound of reading to your baby, the bold and colorful images in baby books will also capture your baby's imagination.  In fact, if you read a few of the same books to an infant repetitively, they will begin to anticipate which pictures and sounds are coming next.  This is a great way to help exercise your young child's memory and increase the rate of mental development.

In addition to the benefit to the child, mothers also enjoy the experience of reading to their new babies.  This helps establish a positive and secure bond between mother and child.  These types of shared experiences contribute to a positive self-image for the baby at a very early age, and children who are read to at a very early age often grow to be voracious readers when they get a little older.

Because of this fact, reading to a newborn child is one of the best ways to insure they will develop a lifelong interest in reading, helping them to do better in school when the time comes, and expanding their budding imaginations.

Children will often want their favorite story to be read over and over again.  Even before the newborn is capable of understanding the words, they will remember the images and bright colorful pictures of the baby books, and also, they will learn to recognize specific sounds that they hear repetitively in the story.  This suggests that even the smallest children could be developing pre-reading skills from exposure to these wonderful baby books.

As to which books you should pick to read to your newborn child, there are many to choose from, and a good place to start is with some of the classics that you loved when you were a child.  You can expand on these with modern classics like "The Hungry Little Caterpillar," by Eric Carle, or "Goodnight Moon," by Margret Wise Brown.

Starting a collection of baby books is one of the best investments you can make in your child's development, even before they are born!