Babies reading books? Yes!
Board books are designed to be especially great to use with the youngest babies: wonderful to look at, play with and read with your little one, since they’re sturdy enough to be handled by babies and toddlers (and even stuck in their mouths) without getting destroyed or ripped to shreds. If you’ve ever left a baby alone with a regular book for a minute, you know what I'm talking about.
And high-contrast board books, which have bold, clear images or patterns, often in black and white, work great because of how a baby’s brains and eyes are developing.
At first, most of what baby's see is blurry, unless it’s very close to them! Bold, black-and-white pictures help them focus, develop eye coordination, and engage their brains as their eyes develop along with the rest of their bodies.
Which makes black-and-white pictures a great match for tummy time (when you place your baby on their stomach for a while). It’s so important for babies to get tummy time. It’s like going to baby gym! It strengthens the muscles they’ll need for holding their head up, scooting and crawling, and it encourages them to practice and develop their motor skills. High-contrast board books can help keep them engaged while they do it--it’s a win-win, helping develop baby’s muscles, coordination, vision and brain all at once. Here are some great selections for your baby--I've included several by Tana Hoban because they're simply so perfect for tummy time.
Black on White: These are the simplest of illustrations, which is perfect for those little ones' eyes, pure black silhouettes on white pages. Name the shapes for baby, give them plenty of time to look them over and repeat! For high-contrast board books, Hoban set the bar high with this one.
White on Black: And this one, its companion! You guessed it, it features a new set of recognizable silhouettes, this time white ones on black backgrounds, giving your baby extra visual stimulation, starting to develop an understanding of shape, background and foreground.
Black & White: And of course, a board book with alternating black pages and white pages. It unfolds like one, long accordion, making it great to prop up on the floor during tummy time, and there are no words within the book, so you get to name the shapes, tell stories about them or relate them to your surroundings, connecting the illustration to a real leaf, or baby bottle.
Hello, Bedtime: All the bedtime objects in here will probably be recognizable to baby, like a teddy bear and pillow. Just as good for tummy time as it is to curl up with before sleep.
Look Look! After black and white, babies can start to recognize other colors in their first few months. The first one is usually red! Based on that, this book features bold patterns and illustrations of things from a baby's world, all in black and white with a pop of red.
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