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INFANTS (0-12 months)

Developmental Milestones for Infants:

Motor skills

  • Reaches for book
  • Places book in mouth
  • Sits in lap, head steady
  • Turns pages with adult help

Cognitive skills:

  • Looks at pictures
  • Vocalizes, pats pictures
  • Prefers pictures of faces

What parents can do:

  • Hold child comfortably, face-to-face
  • Follow baby's cues for "more" and "stop"
  • Point to and name pictures

Choosing Books for Infants:

  • Board books with pictures of babies
  • Brightly colored board books to touch
  • Books with pictures of familiar objects
  • Books with pictures of people doing familiar things
  • Small books for small hands
  • Books with simple rhymes or predictable text
Sharing Books With Infants
  • Select books that are age-appropriate
  • Select books with few or no words that have simple but interesting problems
  • Pick a time when you and your baby are in a good mood
  • Read in your most exciting voice and point to the pictures
  • Touch and love your child the whole time
  • Let your baby play with the book
  • Put books within your child’s reach
  • Stop reading when your baby loses interest
Encouraging your baby to love books:
 
  • Read with them every day.
  • Make sharing books a special time for closeness
  • Let them see that you enjoy reading
  • Let them play with books
  • Take them to the Library
  • Make books available in your home
  • Put books within your child’s reach
  • Limit TV viewing
   
  • Talk to them about what they see or do
  • Show them new things and talk about them
  • Use speech that is simple and clear
  • Respond to babbling and early talking
  • Sing to them