Both Mom and Dad have always been book lovers since childhood. Mum hardly gets time for reading nowadays. Inculcating the reading habit has come naturally to DD. She has seen us buying books, reading books, taking care of books, stacking books, discussing books and also sometimes debating over topics from books and arguing about 'buying more than needed' books.
Recently, we bought a bookcase to be able to handle the overwhelming love for books. Tip: Children learn by imitation. So, pick up your books now.
Recollecting an incident when she was just 7 months old. We had attended a preview at Shichida and decided to enrol her. We came home with the brochure and a small story book.
I put DD to sleep and sat reading the book beside her only to be woken by a nudge and find a half eaten book with all the sides and corners gone.
I was astonished, and partly scared that she would fall ill. That was her first interaction with a real BOOK. Fortunately, DD loves reading books as much as we love reading books to her. So, it is money well spent and quite satisfying to see her enjoy books.
Toddlers enjoy a variety of books now. Some are based on rhyme and rhythm. Some have interactive stories with refrains, sound effects, or sounds to imitate or enact: Eric Carle's 'From Head to Toe'. Some are based on Cars, Trains and other moving objects: 'Chugga, Chugga Choo Choo' by Kevin Lewis. Some are based on familiar things and situations: 'Bebé Goes Shopping' by Susan Middleton Elya. Some books help with toddler fears and feelings: 1) 'No, David!' by David Shannon, 2) 'Llama Llama Mad at Mama' by Anna Dewdney. There are books that teach your child to follow certain rules and virtues. Then, there are lift the flap books like 'Dear Zoo' by Rod Campbell and sing-along books like 'If You're Happy and You Know It' by Jane Cabrera or Nursery Rhyme books like 'Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree' by Eileen Christelow besides other conceptual books on counting, opposites, colours, alphabets and fun concepts.
Another important to discuss here is 'attention span'. A typical toddler has very very less attention span. So, they will read a book for a few seconds or a few minutes and then close the book and again come back to it after a while. Tip: Do not fret if your child does that too. It is quite normal. Slowly their attention span will increase.
She also enjoys 'quiet reading times' at home just as she has at her school. She will sit with her book in her lap, open it and say, "One Day".....as if telling me a story. The first picture will be the subject of her story. Say, Teddy Bear....Then she will get engrossed in the pictures and keep flipping and uttering the words"And then" ..'teddy bear'.....'dog'...."And then"....."And then".....till "I finished reading the book" comes. I would like to quote James Bryce here, 'The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it'.
Recently, we bought a bookcase to be able to handle the overwhelming love for books. Tip: Children learn by imitation. So, pick up your books now.
Since she was a baby, DD loved books. She can literally say when she grows up that that she could EAT, SLEEP and READ books. She had started with nibbling cloth books and then graduated to nibbling small board books, to 'touch and feel' books, puppet books, pop out books, flashcard pop out books, sliding ABC and 123 books. Its amazing to see the wonderful variety of books written for children today. 
Tip: Children who are spoken to and read to frequently have larger vocabularies and develop into better readers.
Tip: Children who are spoken to and read to frequently have larger vocabularies and develop into better readers. 
Recollecting an incident when she was just 7 months old. We had attended a preview at Shichida and decided to enrol her. We came home with the brochure and a small story book.I put DD to sleep and sat reading the book beside her only to be woken by a nudge and find a half eaten book with all the sides and corners gone.
I was astonished, and partly scared that she would fall ill. That was her first interaction with a real BOOK. Fortunately, DD loves reading books as much as we love reading books to her. So, it is money well spent and quite satisfying to see her enjoy books.
She has her own little library of books. It is at her height so that she can easily reach out for them whenever she needs them and put them back too when reading is over. There was a time 
when she would just take out the books and stack them on the floor or on the bed not bothering about what is inside.
Daddy would wonder why she did that. Mummy would explain that its her developmental milestone at that point of time. They love stacking. That seems a long time back.
Tip: To inculcate the habit of reading, first of all, let the books be easily accessible to your child.
Today, I replaced many of her hard bound board books with a fresh set of thinner paper books. She has learnt to handle paper books. (Again, reiterates the fact in Mummy's mind that our little baby is growing up.)
Now, she loves flipping the paper of the book and looking at the pictures and pointing out the letters to us. Tip: If you are well versed with her reading developmental stage, you need to keep upgrading it with time and her level of progression.
when she would just take out the books and stack them on the floor or on the bed not bothering about what is inside.Daddy would wonder why she did that. Mummy would explain that its her developmental milestone at that point of time. They love stacking. That seems a long time back.
Tip: To inculcate the habit of reading, first of all, let the books be easily accessible to your child.
Today, I replaced many of her hard bound board books with a fresh set of thinner paper books. She has learnt to handle paper books. (Again, reiterates the fact in Mummy's mind that our little baby is growing up.)
Now, she loves flipping the paper of the book and looking at the pictures and pointing out the letters to us. Tip: If you are well versed with her reading developmental stage, you need to keep upgrading it with time and her level of progression.
We read to her whenever she is in the mood, (which she is most of the time - I am sure it'll be quite the opposite when she starts with serious academic books :D ) She brings her books to me or at times prefers to read alone. She loves listening to the stories and then repeating the story again by flipping the pages. Tip: Story time is more of a spontaneous activity at our home rather than a fixed time in the night.
A few months back, she used to love reading the story of Goldilocks, Papa Bear, Mumma Bear and 'Baby' Bear over and over again. Now, she has graduated to many more new stories like the Greedy Dog, The Lion and the Mouse, Cinderella, and some newer story books. Tip: If your toddler wants to hear the same story over and over again, let them enjoy the comfort of the same story while you build their vocabulary by adding in new words or pointing at the written words while saying the story.
I would like to specially mention here
A few months back, she used to love reading the story of Goldilocks, Papa Bear, Mumma Bear and 'Baby' Bear over and over again. Now, she has graduated to many more new stories like the Greedy Dog, The Lion and the Mouse, Cinderella, and some newer story books. Tip: If your toddler wants to hear the same story over and over again, let them enjoy the comfort of the same story while you build their vocabulary by adding in new words or pointing at the written words while saying the story.
I would like to specially mention here
They are an amazing collection that every beginning reader should have. These books are graded on the reading level of the child. So, the parents can buy accordingly. She just loves to see what PAT is doing in one of Dr. Seuss' books. PAT sitting on CAT or PAT sitting on the HAT, PAT sitting on BAT, ALL are SMALL, while ALL are TALL. ALL dancing on the WALL. ALL FALL. She also loves Ladybird's Peter and Jane collection too. She will open the book and point at Peter and Jane and fish and tree and also the written words but she doesn't know to read yet.
Toddlers enjoy a variety of books now. Some are based on rhyme and rhythm. Some have interactive stories with refrains, sound effects, or sounds to imitate or enact: Eric Carle's 'From Head to Toe'. Some are based on Cars, Trains and other moving objects: 'Chugga, Chugga Choo Choo' by Kevin Lewis. Some are based on familiar things and situations: 'Bebé Goes Shopping' by Susan Middleton Elya. Some books help with toddler fears and feelings: 1) 'No, David!' by David Shannon, 2) 'Llama Llama Mad at Mama' by Anna Dewdney. There are books that teach your child to follow certain rules and virtues. Then, there are lift the flap books like 'Dear Zoo' by Rod Campbell and sing-along books like 'If You're Happy and You Know It' by Jane Cabrera or Nursery Rhyme books like 'Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree' by Eileen Christelow besides other conceptual books on counting, opposites, colours, alphabets and fun concepts.
Another important to discuss here is 'attention span'. A typical toddler has very very less attention span. So, they will read a book for a few seconds or a few minutes and then close the book and again come back to it after a while. Tip: Do not fret if your child does that too. It is quite normal. Slowly their attention span will increase.
She also enjoys 'quiet reading times' at home just as she has at her school. She will sit with her book in her lap, open it and say, "One Day".....as if telling me a story. The first picture will be the subject of her story. Say, Teddy Bear....Then she will get engrossed in the pictures and keep flipping and uttering the words"And then" ..'teddy bear'.....'dog'...."And then"....."And then".....till "I finished reading the book" comes. I would like to quote James Bryce here, 'The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it'.
Nowadays, DD has started to discuss what she is reading with me, another developmental milestone in reading. It is said, "TV. If kids are entertained by two letters, imagine the fun they'll have with twenty-six. Open your child's imagination. Open a book.
Do your children love reading books? How often do you buy books? What books would you recommend for a 2 - 2.5 year old?
