"What's the point of buying books for a baby? They don't understand what you read to them!" Many parents think to themselves what we just wrote out loud... And at Good Goût, we thought we couldn't let this preconceived idea continue to rage on any longer. So we put on our glasses and went to meet a dad blogger who's passionate about children's literature and has more than one trick up his sleeve to make even the youngest ones want to devour books!
Passionate about children's literature, Gabriel is the editor-in-chief of the blog La Mare aux mots and the father of two little girls. Through his blog, he and his team of passionate writers introduce us to authors. He helped us find some great ideas for introducing our babies to reading from a young age.
The importance of reading from an early age
"Reading arouses curiosity, helps develop imagination, open-mindedness, and critical thinking. For example, a child who reads (or is read to) a story set in a faraway country will have no trouble imagining life there..." explains the reading dad.
Good reflexes to have:
- Putting books in children's visual environment.
- Teaching children to handle a book with respect, without stepping on it, without tearing it...
- Reading during dinner (or any other time we think is inappropriate, like bath time) is a great way to introduce them to this new activity in a fun way. There's nothing like a book with vegetables to help get your baby to eat a small meal :-)
- Taking them to the library: it's a great way to discover new titles, authors, and surprising book formats... And then, if we had to buy all the children's literature books in existence, we'd lose both our arms!
The selection of bestsellers to include in your birth list
Against all odds, Gabriel tells us: "The key to choosing a good book for your child is to please yourself first." Here are some of his favorites:
- Bedtime Animals by Frédérique Loew: a touch-and-feel fabric book, perfect for little hands. The illustrations are in black and white, which is very effective because contrasts are often better perceived by babies than colors.
- The "My Little Sound Picture Books" collection is very popular because children can press the dots very easily and quickly.
- The stories of Emilie (the little girl in red by Domitille de Pressensé) will be very popular, thanks, once again, to strong contrasts and simple drawings.
- Sejung Kim's Animals of the World is a book made from organic fabric in partnership with UNICEF: perfect for babies who put everything in their mouths!
Little tips for reading a book to a baby (under 3 years old)
Because there is no question of putting him off reading! ;-)
Babies love to flip through pages very quickly and can turn pages very quickly. Adapt to their rhythm and their current desires...
Do not force the child if he does not want to.
Don't make the text too long; the text isn't essential. From the age of 2, picture books are very useful; children love to spend a lot of time looking at pages where only characters, objects, and shapes "wander around" without necessarily any setting.
The chef's surprise: Jeanne Ashbé, the book and toddlers
We wanted to share with you the advice of another spokesperson for the benefits of books on the development of our little ones. The brilliant children's book author Jeanne Ashbé , filmed by the Cinémathèque Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles during her visit to the Ti Mounn nursery .
For those in a hurry (or those who can't turn on the sound), here are some great ideas to remember:
- What often confuses parents is that their child doesn't sit still and listen to the story. Yet movement is important in their approach to reading, because they read first with their ears. It's the music of the language that attracts them. Just as with language learning, children acquire reading skills by listening to adults read.
- By always finding the same little reading sequences, the psyche and mind of toddlers are structured. We must follow the child in his reading and not persevere in the text like a dogma, it is the text that sets the pace!
- Baby time is all about slowness. Reading a book to a baby might mean reading just one page or the same page for weeks.
- Even if we do not understand what the child perceives of the world, he makes his own path and gives it his own meaning with an exploratory energy on which books can be his companions.
Come on! Libraries, media libraries, or bookstores; Black & White or colors; shapes or characters; have fun and play with the different sounds of your voice to read beautiful stories to your babies!
