What to Read: The First Year

“More than this, I believe that the only lastingly important form of writing is writing for children. It is writing that is carried in the reader's heart for a lifetime; it is writing that speaks to the future.” 

― Sonya Hartnett

As someone who reads a lot, I thought it would be easy to pick out books for my babies. After all, I spent more time browsing the shelves at Chapters than I did almost anywhere else, and I was known to wander over to the baby section every now and then. Not only that, but I could remember how much I loved being read to, and had a list of favourites that I couldn't wait to share with my child.

I should have known that my kids would be as stubborn as their mother, and would want to pick their own favourites. :) That, compounded with the fact that the books I could remember reading weren't exactly age-appropriate for an infant, meant that I had some learning to do.

Luckily, J was an excellent teacher, and we discovered a new range of books together. Hopefully our fumblings through the world of early-reading can be of some use to you when asking yourself What should I read through my baby's first year?





0-3 Months: Literally Anything

For these first few months, all baby really wants is to be close to you. Cuddling with you, seeing you smile, and hearing your voice are enough to keep that little one happy. This is great news if you
A) are an avid reader
B) have favourite childhood books that you are anxious to share
C) are a first time parent and love to nap

When J was a baby I used to just read pages of whatever I was reading out loud, and by the time my throat started to get a little sore, she had dozed off again. I also used these first three months for prime photo-ops, laying next to her on the floor with a favourite book and reading while she gurgled happily. These first three months can leave new parents (or at least left me and my husband) wondering what you're actually supposed to do with this baby, but the good news is that anything works.

3-6 Months: Chomp, Chomp, Chomp

At this point, both of my babies had started the Never-ending Drool Party, which meant that anything was fair game for chomping. This meant that any books I wanted to read went straight into the mouth. My son is actually four months old right now, and he will full-out lunge for whatever I'm holding in my hands. Thankfully, board books can withstand a good gnaw, and when that fails there's the Indestructibles series. J was given one of these as a gift and she loved it! I also highly recommend anything that makes crinkly, crunchy noises (there are pretty cheap "books" at Walmart/Target that work well) as well as cloth books. I have a lovely Fisher-Price cloth book from when I was an infant, and J started to get really interested in it around this age.

6-9 Months: Engaging your Baby

It was during this period that J started to become actively interested in books. Her language centre was working overtime as she began babbling up a storm and started to throw out her first words. Her fine motor skills were developed enough to handle objects without my help and she could finally sit up on her own. Meeting these milestones meant that reading was no longer a passive activity, but rather something she could engage in independently.

The books that I would recommend for this age range should have some key characteristics:
a) They should be short, to complement a short attention span
b) Ideally, they should rhyme. Babies love a great rhythm! (Song books, like "I'm a Little Teapot", work great as well.)
c) Bright, recognizable pictures help hold a baby's interest (a mirror is even better - those little tots are nothing if not vain!)
d) Textures are fascinating for babes at this age. Fuzzy things, bumpy things, crinkly things - they love to explore.

My favourite book series for this period was definitely the Sesame Beginnings Shaped Board Book set. The book Bubbles Bubbles was actually J's favourite right up until she was about 13 months old. We brought it to her Christmas and first birthday photo shoots and it was the only thing that would make her laugh!

Another "must-have" series is the Usborne Touchy-Feely Board Books. We started off with "That's Not my Goat" after my husband spied it in Babies' R Us, and we ended up with five or six of them. They're great for vocab, learning body parts, and exploration of textures. J is now 17 months old and we still read them daily :)

9-12 Months: A Personality Develops

By now, your little darling has really started to develop a personality. He/she has likes and dislikes and is not afraid to let them show. It was around this age that J started to turn away books that she didn't like and bring us books that she wanted to hear. She also began to tolerate longer books and would demand to hold them herself and have me read over her shoulder. (If you haven't mastered it already, learn to read upside down - at least until you have the books memorized!)

We have a dog, and she became obsessed with any book that mentioned dogs. Her absolute favourite was Dog by Matthew Van Fleet. We quickly snapped up his other books, and they became quick favourites as well. The rhyme scheme, the textured pieces, and the pull tabs were all enjoyable for a baby in this age range.

Singing (even if you can't do it well) really appeals to babies nearing their first birthday, and this made Mortimer a fast favourite in our house. I'm not a huge fan of all the Munsch board books, because the abbreviated versions seem like they have lost some of the magic of the originals, but this one holds up well (as does The Paper Bag Princess!).

Finally, a great author for this range is Sandra Boynton. We've incorporated many of her books into our collection, and pick up others whenever we go to the library. J's favourites at this age included But Not the Hippopotamus and Moo, Baa, Lalala. 



I would love to hear from anyone about books their babes loved during their first year! I still have a little nugget under one, and I'm always looking for new books to add to our collection. I hope that new parents (or grandparents, or godparents, etc) who are a little overwhelmed with the options will find these suggestions helpful :)

Stay tuned for upcoming posts, which will include The Ultimate Baby Shower Book Guide and The Ultimate First Birthday Book Guide. In the meantime, keep having amazing story times :)