The First Book for your Baby

The first time she stretched her arm trying to reach for the book I was holding was a special moment!!!

I’ve always loved reading for my baby, even when she was in my womb! I always felt that she could hear me, at least she was able to recognize my voice!!

Once she was in my arms, I felt that she was enjoying the time we spend together, just sitting next to her, with a good warm snuggle, looking at her beautiful face, reading her a short story, and she was looking happy and hearing as well.

Reading stories is one of most exciting and easier way to bond with your baby. It’s never too early for your baby’s first book, since the baby enjoys the tone of your voice, and this will help him/her learn all the sounds needed to speak the native language. The more stories you read aloud, the more words she’ll be exposed to and the better he/she will be able to talk.

When you read, your baby hears you using many different emotions and expressive sounds, which fosters social and emotional development. Reading also invites your baby to look, point, touch, and answer questions- all of which promote social development and thinking skills. And your baby improves language skills by imitating sounds, recognizing pictures, and learning words.

Hearing words help to build a rich network of words in a baby’s brain, this leads to stronger vocabularies, even though they are not talking yet, that doesn’t mean they’re not learning. They’re taking it all in, and that helps in their verbal intelligence later when they start to speak.

There’s a strong connection in the brain between enjoying and learning. When babies enjoy books with their parents, they grow up loving books because some of the love they feel for their parents crosses over to those first books, and then the books in general.

You don’t need to go to the zoo, for instance, to talk about lions and elephants. Reading gives parents something to talk about. Whenever you pick up a book and see the sweet smile on your baby’s face, you’ll instantly launch into a lively language.

It doesn’t matter what you read for her/him since whatever your baby hears, that’s what she will love to hear when it’s spoken in your voice!

What makes reading aloud especially delightful to babies is the response they get from the people who love them and read to them. Find books that you love, and your baby will love them too. And don’t worry; there is no special technique for reading to babies. Just follow your heart, and let the joy be your guide, and you’ll do it perfectly each time.