How to read to 12 month old & recommended books

[Avon74]

Hello. Im a Dad btw, but this forum looks like an excellent place to get parenting advice & it seems fathers are welcome.

DD is into her books, loves pointing at cows in particular & going Mooo!. Im trying to get in the habit of reading a bedtime story but its pretty difficult as DD wants her last & biggest milk feed of the day at that point, so I try reading at different times of the day etc.

I dont push it too hard as I dont want to put DD off books but its rare that we make it through a whole book (ie 10 pages long) without our attention going elsewhere - again all normal stuff for a 12 month old - so we can flit over several books.

Another technique I use is to read older books (ie Oscar Wilde or even Shakespeare !) whilst DD is playing with her book or is in her cot - just so she gets used to a different style of language, words etc & gets a flavour of whats to come (my aim for when DD is older is to read bedtime stories each night that DD really enjoys & engages with)

So my question is how do other parents read to their young children & what advice do you give & also what books would you recommend?

My own advice is to make reading fun & let the child choose the book.

Particular favourites of DD are the touch & learn books & the usborne jigsaw & pull-up books.

Any tips gratefully recieved.

[Marina]

Welcome to MN Avon!
Sounds like your dd is off to a flying start for a lifelong love of books - are you sure you need any tips?
I would try and get hold of Nicholas Tucker's Rough Guide to Childrens' Books 0-5 as there are loads of ideas and inspiration in this.
I definitely think you are on the right track with letting dd have books that she can hold and explore without wrecking them. Board books are of course fab for this, and ds and dd both loved titles in this series. Well worth looking out for second-hand as they are indestructible and delightful.
If you do not already have Hairy Maclary, Each Peach Pear Plum and Peepo, plus The Very Hungry Caterpillar, those are classics that almost every child loves.

[MorticiaAnnSpookington]

welcome too Avon ! I second what Marina has said and those books wshe suggested are all great - lots of rhyme and rhythm in them,good drawings too..you could try We're Going on a Bear Hunt too ...will try to think of some more

[Avon74]

Cool - some new lines there for me to follow - thanks for your pointers - Avon.

[DaisySteiner]

Dear Zoo has always been a favourite in this house.

[Clayhead]

Hairy Mclary has always gone down well here, still reading them to 5 and 6 year old dc too so they have a long lifespan!

Other rhyming books like Who's in the Loo or The Snail and the Whale

Also a big fan of the Pumpkin Soup books by Helen Cooper.

HTH

[IAteDavinaForDinner]

We have one (I got it in the local Co-op for a couple of quid) which is a current favourite. It's called toys, and it has a train, a bike, a truck, a ball and a doll in it. DS (15 months) kisses and waves to the doll. And turns the pages. Approximatetely 17 times yesterday.

Other favourites are pop-up books where he gets to move a tab, anything with a mirror or furry bits, and of course any In The Night Garden offering

Oh, and all of his books have at least some of the cover chewed off

[mrsbabookaloo]

At this age, dd was obsessed with picture books that had photos of real babies and real things in them. Not so interesting for the grown ups, but definitely kept her attention better than a full story.

Try "playtime peekaboo" and "bedtime peekaboo": lift the flap books that have real photos in them. And we have a picture dictionary that is great for pointing at objects. Think they are all Usborne.

Story-wise, I'll second Dear Zoo and Noisy Farm by the same author. And a special touch and feel favourite is Hairy Monkey. A lovely story with great textures.

[MrsBadger]

the LAdybird 'Baby Touch' ones are ace, esp the Peekaboo one as the flaps are cardboard so don;t rip

dd (14m) likes pictures of other babies (so the Bookstart 'This little baby' etc) and, randomly, of monkies (so That's Not My Monkey, Monkey Puzzle, Hug etc)

we have them on a shelf she can get to and she frequently brings me or DH a book and beats us round the knees with it till we sit down and she can sit herself on our lap in readiness

longer books are beyond her though - Monkey Puzzle etc need the text seriously abridging to keep up with her page turning

She has some odd favourites too inc a really crap one called 'I love you baby' which is UTTERLY lacking in narrative direction and a ghastly retelling of Jack and Jill

[Avon74]

ebay searchs ongoing..! Thanks for everyone's suggestions

[nooOOOoonki]

Welcome to MN!

my 17 month old loves these
brightbaby books

and this little baby

www.amazon.co.uk/Brown-Bear-What-Picture-Puffin/dp/0140502963/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21 1224353829&sr=1-1 brown bear brown bear that I can now do on my own.

He much prefers ones where there is only a couple of pictures on the page and he can make noises to (brmmm, woof etc!. If I read older stories to his 3 year old brother he gets frustrated and bored and just wants to turn the page (which is fine if DS1 isn't there!)

good luck,bedtime stories is my favourite bit of the day!

[librarymice]

Have a look at The Ultimate First Book Guide which is a fab resource.

[PortAndDemon]

Agree with recommendations. I remember reading Hairy Maclary to DS from early on and it was only when he was around 18 months and starting to talk that we realised that he was convinced that Muffin McLay was a lion...

[cmotdibbler]

Until recently (DS is 2.5) we have read board books during the day, and a proper book when he is in his cot ready to go to sleep. Favourites are "Click Clack Moo", Hairy McClary/Slinky Malinki books, Harry and the Dinosaurs, any Allan Ahlberg (Peepo is a must), and Katy Morag books

[ohdearwhatamess]

You can't beat the Hairy M books, also Zachary Quack, Minimonster (same author) which ds2 (only 8 months) absolutely loves. He gets fits of giggles when I 'flick' him (a la dragonfly).

Although they are truly dreadful, ds1 adored all the Spot books at that age, particularly the 'Where's Spot' lif the flap one.