One thing we’ve really wanted to help Sal develop is a love of books. We’re probably a little to eager to buy him books – he’s got a pretty extensive library for being 15 months old. It’s been an interesting development and learning experience for us. As Sal develops – his tastes in books evolve.

Overall – we’ve found that a few (3 -4 ) favorite books at any given time seems to work out best rather then rotating through all his books. Sal’s pediatrician recommended this saying that he will get a lot more enjoyment out of the experience if he gets a sense of mastery of the book rather then just always being read new books. Sure – we still test out other books and try one out every once in a while to see what sticks. The biggest thing is figuring out what seems to catch your little one’s attention.

Below are some of the books that have held that covetted “favorite book” spot. These are listed roughly with the age that they seemed to mesh with Sal. Hope your find some ideas for books that your baby might enjoy too
- Baby School Mom

Prebirth

Oh Baby, the Places You’ll Go!
Finding out that babies actually seemed to recognize books that were read to them in the womb – it seemed like it’d be fun to start reading to Sal while he was in my belly. The studies that found babies would recognize the book used a Dr. Seuss book, The Cat in the Hat. We went with another story based off Dr. Seuss.

Birth to 3 months

At this age – Sal loved the books that had intensely vibrant colors. Since he was not yet handling the books – we were able to read him some very beautiful books with regular pages rather then the board pages.

Dali and the Path of Dreams
This book was a gift and an unexpected find for us. The book is about Salvador Dali as a little boy – going on a surreal adventure that inspires Salvador later as an artist. They are full page illustrations that are gorgeously colored. For some reason the pictures really caught Sal’s eyes even at such a young age.

3 – 7 months

With Sal’s motor functions kicking in – grabbing and pulling – our books quickly changed to ones he could handle.

Fuzzy bee and friends
Squishy turtle and friends
Fluffy chick and friends
Can’t say enough good things about these soft books. Each page has a different texture to explore which gives you an opportunity to talk to your baby about how they feel and give them a chance to explore with their little hands. On each page is a short sweet poem about the character on the page. It’s a great way to introduce them to some insects and animals! I know my son and his friends all seemed to have these books as their favorites around this age.

7 – 12 months

Sal’s comprehension really burst during this period. It became clearer and more apparent that he was beginning to understand what we were saying. During this time he also began to sign as well as follow directions. I think something that helped foster this were some of these books that had little activities on each page. Below are some of our favorites for activity type books:

pat the bunny
This book is a classic – and for good reason. Babies seem to gravitate to it – and parents love giving their babies a chance to touch and do each activity on the pages. At first, I’d read the story and grab Sal’s chubby little hand and help him do each activity. Sal started doing the activities on his own when he was 9 months old – and the satisfaction on his face was priceless. I tell everyone about this book if their child is that age.

Shapes
Colors
Opposites
These books are wonderful in that they are simple in presenting each concept – and keep Sal engaged since he loves to slide out each of the cards. He eagerly anticipates each page – he can’t wait to see what he’ll slide out next.

Animal Alphabet
This book not only gives Sal a little more exposure to the alphabet – but also plays off his natural curiousity and love of animals. He’ll happily slide the cards back and forth to reveal the animal. Thankfully – this is an extremely well made book, completely sturdy even with busy baby/toddler hands.

Another genre of books during this time that Sal seemed to gravitate towards were simple word books which he had a lot of familiarity with the words and topics. As he began to sign and try to speak a little more – these became a lot of fun for him to recognize each page. Here were a few of his favorites:

Oops
One of my favorites as well since it was the first book that Sal would imitate the sounds and eagerly sign what was on each page. It’s a simple book about David’s first words. It’s also where he first started to say Mama…so of course , near and dear to my heart.

David Smells
Another David Shannon book – same great format keeping it simple. This one reinforces learning the senses and body parts.

Barnyard Dance
Can’t really go wrong w/ Sandra Boynton books, especially if you ham it up as you read it out loud. These books Sal’s enjoyed earlier as well – I’d suspect it has something to do with the silly illustrations and the upbeat words. I stuck this one in this section since at this age he was also following along with some of the motions in the barnyard dance – really fun to see!