Great Books for Babies and Toddlers More Than 500 Recommended Books for Your Child's First Three Years

Nursery Rhymes, Fingerplays, and Songs You will want to have some of the books in this chapter on hand when your baby is born to move seamlessly into the habit of reading aloud. A collection of nursery rhymes is a must. These time-tested verses trip off the tongue, thanks to years of being polished through oral tradition. You will soon have memorized some of themif you don't already remember some from your childhood. Turn to nursery rhymes at any time of day. Some will come to mind at certain moments, like "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" while slipping on booties and "Wee Willie Winkie" at bedtime. But any favorite rhyme will entertain your child, especially if you say it with enthusiasm. Since nursery rhymes are so popular with very young children, not many collections of other poems are published for this age group. Ride a Purple Pelican (see page 62) and Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young (see page 62) are two exceptions that will add variety to your reading for toddlers. The term fingerplays covers a host of different types of rhymes accompanied by actions. You will find a number of collections and single versions of such action rhymes to captivate your child from birth through preschool. Many parents and grandparents will recall "This Is the Church," "Eeensy-Weensy Spider," and others, but most collections will also give you new ideas and lead to new favorites. These books show gentle movements for you to entertain your baby by counting his fingers and toes, as in the familiar "This Little Piggy." Although they can't join in, babies like watching performances of fingerplays in which you move your fingers in conjunction with rhymes. When they get a bit bigger and sturdier, babies are ready for jogging rhymes, in which you bounce them gently on your knees to words such as "To market, to market, to buy a fat pig." You can initiate hand-clapping rhymes like "Pat-a-Cake" by moving your baby's hands before he can clap them himself. Toddlers respond enthusiastically to all different action rhymes. They keep trying movements and eventually master them for verses like "Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes" and "I'm a Little Teapot." Dozens of other action rhymes and fingerplays are waiting for you to try with your toddler and preschooler, some of which are certain to delight you both. Songs work the same way. In this chapter, you will find soothing lullabies to incorporate into naptime and bedtime routines. Many nursery rhymes have tunes that go with them, while other folk songs like "Old MacDonald" appeal to babies, too. Most of the single versions of songs to sing to babies and toddlers have illustrations with too many details for babies, but toddlers will enjoy looking at the pictures sometimes during the song. If you are at all musical, it's great to own one of the longer collections of songs, which have simple music for piano and guitar. A good songbook will carry you from your child's birth through elementary school and beyond. Beaton, Clare. Mother Goose Remembers. 2000. Hardcover: Barefoot Books. Good for groups. Ages newborn and up. Stunning clothwork art distinguishes this collection of nursery rhymes from the many available. Beaton combines antique fabrics, bric-a-brac, and embroidery to create textured pictures with a three-dimensional feel. Humpty Dumpty perches roundly on a wall of stitched brown bricks, above yellow-and-green flowers that incorporate buttons into their design. The Queen of Hearts glows in her red felt dress and yellow crown, surrounded by a cunning border of hearts and dots. Even the first lines of the nursery rhymes are made from stitches. Forty-six rhymes, most of them familiar, provide just thOdean, Kathleen is the author of 'Great Books for Babies and Toddlers More Than 500 Recommended Books for Your Child's First Three Years', published 2003 under ISBN 9780345452542 and ISBN 0345452542.