Board books are great to use with babies and toddlers for a wide range of reasons. First of all, they are smaller than full-sized picture books. This makes it easy to hold the book in one hand and the newborn in the other arm. In addition, the thick, heavy pages are easy to turn with one hand. It makes it easy to begin reading to your baby right from the very beginning.
As your newborn grows and becomes a more active baby, board books are a wonderful way to add interest to tummy time. Open board books stand easily and encourage your little one to raise his head and look at the pictures. If you see your child losing interest in one picture, simply turn the page and there is a new image for your child to explore. If you offer books to your baby that you have already read, you are giving her the chance to explore the pictures at her own pace and helping her to make the connections between the story and the images.
Toddlers need board books. The small size is perfect for their little hands and arms. Let’s face it, a full-sized picture book is hard for a toddler to even hold closed, much less to open and explore. Then there is the fact that toddler fine motor skills are iffy at best. The paper pages of most picture books can become casualties of their over-eager actions. It is the rare family that doesn’t have to tape a favorite picture book back together from time to time. But board books are sturdier, a great way to transition eager little hands to be careful with books.
Finally, most picture books are 32 pages, but board books vary. Some are 32 pages, while others have shorter versions of the same story. So, you may only be reading 14 or 16 pages. It is worthwhile to keep this in mind when reading to a tired child or trying to distract a little one with a short attention span.
There are a wide range of great board books out there, but if you are looking at suggestions, here are a couple of great suggestions:
The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle
This book is available as both a board book and a traditional picture book. The board book is slightly shorter, with only 26 pages to the traditional 32. But one of the reasons this is such a popular board book is because of the drilled holes in the pages. One hole on the first page turns into two holes on the next pages. The holes continue to multiply until the caterpillar eats his way through an entire fairground of junk food. Not only does this give the book it’s novel appearance, but the holes are also the perfect size for little fingers. The truth is, holes drilled in heavy, cardboard pages will last longer than holes in paper.
The caterpillar is born on Sunday on the very first page and every day he eats a little bit more. As the caterpillar eats his way through the story, the pages get bigger, mirroring the caterpillar’s growth. There are also more holes. The book explores the concepts of numbers and days of the week. It also looks at growth and change as the caterpillar grows larger and becomes hungrier with each passing page. The size of the caterpillar grows There is a twist at the end that adults will see coming from miles away, but is a magical experience for toddlers. The caterpillar becomes a butterfly. It’s a totally unexpected to young minds and many children will want to read the book over and over again.
Goodnight Moon – Margaret Wise Brown
This classic book is offered in a board book version. The heavier version is identical to the hardback version except that it lacks a title page. Instead, the board book begins on the back side of the cover. This really isn’t a deal-breaker for most toddlers.
The story starts slowly, describing the contents of a child’s room in great detail, just like a child notices her room. Everything from the mittens to the balloon to the pictures on the wall are all described with a loving tone that lets the reader know that this is the child’s normal room. The nurturing feel of the book is further illustrated by the fact that the child is never alone. Instead, there is an “old woman” who rocks and quietly knits as the child prepares to sleep, occasionally whispering “hush.” After everything is listed, the child goes through and bids each beloved part of the room goodnight. It ends with a picture of the child and the kittens sound asleep.
There are two very good reasons why this book is a classic. First of all, the book is a lovely way to calm a child down and prepare for sleep. It starts out with fairly complex sentences and gets simpler and quieter as the book goes forward. As the words change, so do the illustrations. The pictures show lots of movement and action as the child prepares for bed and kittens play on the floor in a busy two-page spread. As the book progresses, the pictures become more and more focused on small items, quieting the reader and the listener.
Secondly, the book is a rhyme, this makes it easy to predict what will come next. In fact, after a few readings, you may find that your child will be saying the lines along with you.
Dear Zoo – Rod Campbell
This board book uses flaps to encourage the child to explore different animals along with the narrator. In the book, the narrator is looking for the perfect pet, so the local zoo sends him a variety of animals to try out, but they are all wrong and he sends them back. Each animal comes in a different shaped box and young readers can lift a flap to see the entire animal.
The one drawback to this book is that it’s really designed for either infants, where the adult lifts the flap, or preschoolers that can control their little hands. The doors are printed on heavy paper, but it’s far too easy for toddler hands to tear the flaps and ruin the book.