Building a Library - Books, Books, Books!

This post is merely an invitation into our library.  There are SO many wonderful children’s books out there, the list below is just a few of them that happen to be the favorites found on Love Bug’s shelves.  A survey like this would have been really helpful for me before Love Bug was born when I was trying to prepare for her arrival.  Some of the things I talk about might seem obvious to some of you, but when I was a new mom, I remember feeling really overwhelmed, not knowing how or what to prioritize.  I hope this post will be a helpful tool for some other overwhelmed parents. 

I am hoping to cover a broad range of books by glancing at the various types of books, starting with the earliest age-appropriate types and working up from there. My mom and I are both thrift-shop fiends and so our library has been a budget-friendly mix of new and used.

Here is list of the types of books I will talk about in detail below.

1. Cloth Books.
2. Baby Faces.
3. Tiny Books.
4. Bath Books.
5. Touch and Feel.
6. Lift the Flaps. 
7. Body Part Books.
8. Wordless Books. 
9. Simple Story Books. 
10. ABC Books. 
11. Let Daddy Lead. 
12. Books with Props.

1. Cloth Books. 

Any fabric books with simple colors, contrast, pieces that make noise or have unique texture are all great for stimulating many senses in the early developing minds.  They also introduce page-turning. Something like this would be great. 

2. Baby Faces.  

Babies love looking at other babies.  We had this Global Baby Girls, and this MyFace Book.  From very early on, Love Bug loved looking at all these different babies from around the world.  These were the first books she pulled off the shelf and explored by herself, clearly intrigued by the little faces smiling back at her. 

3.  Tiny Books.

I found these for a few bucks at TJMaxx.  They are perfect for little hands.  These kept her busy in the car on many road trips.  She loved putting them in and out of the box and looking at each of them in detail. 

4.   Bath Books.
These are a great way to bring learning into the bath.  These are great, durable books that we still have for number two when the time comes.  They also serve as great “lily pads” for bath animals to stand on and float around.

    

5.   Touch and Feel Books.
Another way to engage multiple senses at a time and keep baby interested, these books provide many different textures for children to explore.

     

6.   Flap Books.
Opening and closing flaps to uncover creatures and objects is a fun way for our little ones to engage with the book and keeps them interested.

  

7.  Body Part Books.

After months of reading these to Love Bug when she was an infant, she started pointing to and saying the name of the body part as we read.  I realized she had been absorbing it all along.  I added movement and action as I read by kissing or tickling her toes, tummy, hands…etc.

8.   Wordless Books.

Love Bug found this at Goodwill.  I did not even realize it did not have words and was a folding book until we got home – for $1 I just let her get it without looking at it.  It is a really unique find.  The lack-of-words allows us the freedom to explore the pictures and tell our own story.  Grown-ups tend to get caught up in reading the words and we forget that looking at the pictures and analyzing what we see is just as important for little minds to expand their imagination and cognition. 

See my post How to Read to our Children for more ideas that go beyond the words.

9.   Simple Story Books.
Love Bug enjoyed the Quiet Bunny book early and I loved introducing her to the sounds of forest animals.  Spot Goes to School has simple images and simple story line, but the images are elaborate enough for us to expand on the story.  I ask questions like: Why do you think Spot is sad?  What is he doing now?  Oh no, did Spot make a big mess?

10.  Let Daddy Lead.
Bedtime books became a special time for Daddy in our daily routine.  He enjoyed reading the Goodnight World Series books to Love Bug,  and so she enjoyed them too.  We found a couple at second hand stores and then Daddy bought two news ones.  We keep them on a special shelf near the chair where she and Daddy read together.  He loved changing voices as he read in order to keep Love Bug interested.

11.  ABC Books.
These ABC books create a fun way to start introducing the Alphabet.  Pointing to the letters on each page help connect the pictures to the letters.  I found a fun way to make this "Icky Bug" book more interactive with plastic bugs. 

12.  Books and Props.
There are so many ways to make books interactive.  Mimi and I have been gathering puppets and animal and bug figurines for months.  TOOBS like these are wonderful for building book bins like the ones below.  I realized I had three books about farm animals.  I put “The Very Busy Spider”, “The Hat”, and “Who is Coming to Our House?” in a bin with all the farm animals plus an owl, spider and fly and this has become a special reading activity bin.  See my post about Recording your own Audio Books to see how I created a fun Quiet Time activity for Love Bug. 

Final Thoughts. Before you go out and spend lots of money on books for your child, let me say this; do not feel like you must to have your library all set up at once.  I gathered a few books from second hand stores, and then continue to add to those with other books I find along the way.  The type of book and/or title is not as important as finding books that you and your child enjoy.  So let her explore the books shelves with you and choose her new books.  Allow for variety.  Choose books that interest you too.  She will catch your excitement and be eager for story time. 

What are some of your family's favorite books?