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| |    Loving Books Together: Six Months to One Year by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. reviewed by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. Six months is a good age to introduce your child to picture books, if you haven't already. A six-month-old might well pat, chew, hold, or bang a board book, all the while enjoying the sound of your voice. (You might want to have a second book to read from, since the board book may get pretty chewed up!) Don't be put off by your child's gleeful manhandling of her reading materials--children learn to respect and take care of books gradually as they come to understand their special value. A battle of wills As children get older, many of the same approaches continue to work, with this difference: Somewhere around nine months of age, babies begin to develop wills of their own. They want to feed themselves. Some start having little tantrums. They want to hold and be in charge of their books. This new willfulness can make your reading time challenging, as your baby constantly grabs for the book. If book time begins to resemble a battle, change your tactics. Try using two books--one for your baby, and one for you. Read for shorter periods. It's OK to use the book as a plaything for some of the time, letting your child take it, flip the pages, bang it. While you're doing that, you might discover a special picture now and then and show it to your baby, letting your voice convey your excitement. Try playing peekaboo with the pictures by covering a favorite character, then asking, for instance, "Where's the doggie?" If there's a poem, read it rhythmically. Move your body (and the baby in your arms) in time with the words. If the book has pictures of babies, touch the pictures and then touch your own baby in the same place. Some babies will love to listen for a long time (5 or 10 minutes, or more). More active babies may only pay attention for a minute or less. The amount of time is not important. Enjoying each other and the book is. If your baby starts acting bored or distracted, pick a different book or do something else. Naming things Between 9 and 12 months of age, many babies figure out that things still exist even when they are out of sight. You can tell when this milestone has been passed because it's harder to hide things they want. Instead of losing interest the minute you take the thing away, your baby will look for it. About the same time, some babies begin to understand that things have names. Once they have this idea firmly established, they become very interested in hearing the names of everything. A picture book is the perfect vehicle for naming games. With a familiar picture book, ask, "What's that?" Pause for an instant and then give the answer. If your baby loves this game, it is because his mind is open to learning. You won't hear him saying these words right away, but over the next year or two, you're likely to be amazed at his vocabulary. Click here to join the discussion on Reading and Your Child
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