Young Reader in the Making

Young Reader in the Making

Thursday, December 31, 2009

First book: Goodnight Moon

The new year is less than twelve hours away, so I thought I'd get a jumpstart on one of my new year's resolutions. Not the ones about diet or exercise, but the one about writing. This blog is about books I buy as a mom to a book-loving toddler, not what I'd buy as a librarian.

First book: "Goodnight Moon", by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd, board book.  Baby to toddler.

This book probably needs no explanation, but just in case, here's why I bought it. This was the first book I read to my son when he was not quite two months old. Because I had to hold him and turn the pages, a board book was essential. Almost immediately he was drawn in by the alternating colored and black-and-white illustrations and the gentle repetition with the cadence of a lullaby. Within three months he would point to the moon as it slowly rose in the progressing pages. Now, after a year of hearing this story every night, he holds the book and I recite it and he points to the objects as I say them. If you are looking for a book to introduce a baby to reading, this is the book to start with.