As toddlers begin to explore the world around them, books and stories add a whole new dimension of possibilities and fantasies! With toy stores and bookstores flooded with colourful attractive books, it is important to be selective about what type of books you choose for your kids. It not only helps them acquire important language and communication skills but also paves the path to imaginative play and the way kids decipher the world around them.
Reading to children every day can thus become a beautiful experience for the whole family! To help you get started, we have listed down a few options that you can pick from!
Types of Books to Read to Your Toddler
While you can consider books as per the age and interest of your child, it is also important to choose the type of books suitable for their grasping, learning, and exploring at that stage. Let’s dive into the world of toddler books in detail below:
- Crinkly Cloth Books
- Textured Books
- Board Books
- Lift-the-flap Books
- Musical Sound Books
- Themed Book Bundles
- Phonics Books
- Fairytale And Fable Books
- Wordless Books
- Interactive Books
- Art Books
- Activity Books
These books make a crinkly sound when crushed or held with those tiny fingers. As the baby tries to grab and grip the book, she learns to turn pages and hold it in the right orientation. These books yield beautifully to the explorations of those little curious minds. What’s more! Most of these are often wash-proof and can act as great bathtime buddies!
As your child learns about the orientation of books, they start understanding fabric and texture as well. Texture books are a great way to introduce your child to the different feel and touch of things around! It could be a book about animals with large pictures and corresponding textures, for example, the wool of a sheep, or soft fur of a rabbit, or the skin of a reptile. This way the toddler not only identifies the various animals but also learns to relate them, with their unique individual textures.
As your toddler becomes more keen on exploring books on their own, you can hand them sturdy board books! These books come in various sizes and won’t tear apart as your child tries to go through the pages. You can get them simple story books or introductory number and alphabet board books. These books are strong enough to resist wear and tear and light enough for your toddler to use and manoeuvre through.
These books are very popular with inquisitive kids! These are board books with cut-out tiny flaps on each page. Once you lift the flap, you get further information or a continuation of the story. These books enable your child to develop fine motor skills of pinching, holding, and lifting flaps. These come in various topics and themes suitable for babies, toddlers, kids, and curious adults too!
Every toddler has a penchant for these lovely musical books! Whether it is learning the different sounds of various animals and birds, or learning nursery rhymes, these books help toddlers learn about the various natural sounds around! These help them try and imitate these sounds, and sing along rhymes, enabling them to work on their language and speaking skills!
If your toddler hasn’t yet developed an interest in books, you can try out book bundles in their favourite character theme! For example, the Hungry Caterpillar, Peppa Pig, Thomas Train, or the various Disney characters, you can find themed book bundles for each! These usually come as a box set and cater to different information like fruits, vegetables, numbers, alphabets, vehicles, community helpers, so forth and so on!
Once your kid has started imitating the various sounds and syllables, you can introduce him to phonics books. These are books which focus on how a particular letter sounds in pronunciation. These also feature various simple combinations of letters and word formations, making it easier for your child to identify and speak simple words. You can now enjoy your child conveying their thoughts through the new words they learn every day!
While many books introduce your child to academic milestones, one should not overlook the significance of simple folklore and storytelling in the development of a child’s imagination! These are the stories and fairytales that are repeated through generations and often have a moral to convey. These fantasies fuel your child’s world of imagination as they start to structure your words in their young developing minds!
Now, these wordless books, as evident from their names, do not contain much of a written text. But, they still have a real story to tell! The pictures, the details, the sequence and the order, all come together to build a unique experience for the kids! It’s up to the child to interpret the story in their own way! You can keep coming back to these books as your child grows, to enjoy the difference in their own interpretations!
As your child begins to understand simple instructions, you can introduce her to interactive books or participation books! These are storybooks with fun simple instructions to keep the child engaged all through. For example, they can clap their hands and see the monkey jump, or pretend to water the plants and find them bearing fruits on the next page! These usually help the child relate cause-and-effect actions. They learn to utilise these in their daily lives as well!
These books come with big images for the kids to colour in, or a part of the picture completed, for the child to trace and copy! These help the child learn how to grip a crayon or paintbrush and explore the concept of lines and colour combinations!
Activity books are a big hit with parents and toddlers alike! Whether you pick a maze activity book, a Spot the Difference book, or simple matching and word formation books, the various activities help keep the child busy and occupied in a fun way! They don’t even realise how much they learn in the meantime while focusing on solving the given activity! These books are also great travel companions!
With so many options of toddler books listed above, we are sure you can start a new bedtime ritual for your little one! Gauge their interests and shuffle things from time to time to keep them interested in listening to stories and learning their first words and concepts in a fun delightful way!
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