Reading with Little Miss Muffet and Little Bo Peep, January 2016

We have been snowed in for the last few days, and before that we had a good cold spell, so we have had lots of time to cuddle up with good books. Here's what Miss Muffet and Bo Peep enjoyed in January.

Busting Boredom with Books

Little Bo Peep (just turning 4 months) is getting to the age now where she is beginning to desire entertainment in addition to bottles, snuggles, and clean diapers. When she is fussing and nothing else seems to comfort her, it usually works to give her a book to look at. If she's lying on the floor, I will stand up Black and White by Tana Hoban, or the Alphaprints ABC book she got for Christmas and just let her take in the images on the pages. She kicks her legs, coos, and even reaches out to try to knock the book over. It's so nice to see even a small baby beginning to have her own relationship with books.

Singable Picture Books

Little Miss Muffet (age 2 years, 2 months) has suddenly started to demand that all picture books be sung, whether they have a tune or not. Rather than start making up tunes for every book under the sun, we have been borrowing a lot of singable picture books from the library - and revisiting the ones in our own collection - to satisfy this new fascination. Here are some titles we have recently enjoyed:

• The Babies on the Bus by Karen Katz
• The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort 
• Row Row Row Your Boat by Iza Trapani 
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star illustrated by Julia Noonan
• Lullaby and Good Night by Julie Downing 
• Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop by Lisa Shulman and Ashley Wolff
• Mockingbird by Allan Ahlberg and Paul Howard
• Mary Wore Her Red Dress and Henry Wore His Green Sneakers by Merle Peek
• Hush Little Baby by Margot Zemach

We borrowed Lullaby and Good Night from the library, but it has become such a special favorite that we had to order a copy of our own. It has beautiful illustrations, and the music for each lullaby is worked into the pictures. It also just happened to have a version of I See the Moon, which is a song we already love from Marylee's 1, 2, 3 Sing with Me! album, so it was an instant hit with Miss Muffet - and with me, too.

Highlights High Five

Last year, we had a subscription to Highlights Hello, and we loved it! I saved all the back issues to share with Little Bo Peep, but now, thanks to Grandma, we have a new subscription to Highlights High Five for the new year. The stories are a bit longer, and there are more of them, and the magazine also includes activities to do at home, as well as more complicated hidden pictures puzzles. Miss Muffet loves to flip through her "manganize" all "by self" and she even tries to follow along with the audio version, though it often moves to the next page before she is ready and she does not turn the page as directed. The hidden pictures are so far too difficult without a lot of help, but the stories and rhymes are just right. I look forward to watching her learn to master the new activities in the coming months!

The Reading with Little Miss Muffet featured started last January. Click here to see what she was reading way back when.

Milestones Board Books

Babies reach many milestones during the first two years of life. The board books on this list are great for supporting and celebrating these important achievements.

Baby Pig Pig Walks by David McPhail (ISBN: 9781580895965) 
Baby Pig Pig Talks by David McPhail (ISBN: 9781580895972)

David McPhail's character from picture books such as Pig Pig Grows Up and Pig Pig Gets a Job is just a toddler in these board books. Baby Pig Pig takes a while to get the hang of walking, but when he finally figures it out, he runs right to the kitchen to hug his mama. When he's learning to talk, his mother teaches him many words, which he slowly begins to repeat until finally he says her name loud and clear. 

Little Movers series by Carol Thompson 
These four books feature a diverse cast of babies - some with disabilities - showing off their gross motor skills. There are four titles in this series: One, Two, Three...Jump!, One, Two, Three... Run!, One, Two, Three... Climb! , and One, Two, Three...Crawl! (which I reviewed here.)

 

Happy, Healthy Baby series by  Elizabeth Verdick and Marjorie Lisovskis

The six books in this series highlight all of the things baby do, using photographs of real infants to illustrate each skill. The titles are: Play, Rest, Cuddle, Eat, Move, and Reach. 

Spoonful by Benoit Marchon (ISBN: 9780547893136)

Whether your little one is just starting solid foods or learning to use a spoon independently, he or she will be delighted by  this book, in which a baby gives a spoonful of food to everyone from the fish to the picture on the wall. 

Early Literacy Around the House: The Bathroom

Between hand washing, bath time, and potty training, little kids spend a lot of time in the bathroom. Make these experiences a bit more fun - and educational! - with these early literacy activities.

• Sing "This is the way we wash..." As you wash your child in the bathtub, sing a little verse about each of his parts. (Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush is the perfect tune for this game.) Pay special attention to the words you may not say as much in everyday conversation, such as elbow, eyebrow, thigh, shin, and wrist. If your child already knows some body vocabulary, ask him to tell you which part to sing about next. 
• Draw letters on your child’s back with a washcloth and have her guess them. Preschoolers who are beginning to write letters will have fun with this game as they try to visualize each letter you draw on their skin. Get your child in on the game by hiding your eyes and letting her trace a letter on your hand or arm so you also have a chance to guess. 
• Write in the fog on the mirror. Kids can't resist a mirror that has steamed up after a hot shower. Indulge their fascination and allow them to write and draw in the fog. For added fun, play a game of Win, Lose, or Draw, where you and your child take turns drawing and guessing what has been drawn. 
• Time your hand washing with the ABC song. It can be hard for a young child to take time out of his busy day of play and exploration to wash his hands properly. Make the time go by a little faster by singing the alphabet - or any other favorite children's song - while your child lathers his hands. 
• Sing a tooth brushing song. Many young children, especially toddlers, hate to have their teeth brushed. Ease their anxiety and discomfort by singing them through the experience. Suggested songs include: 

• Teeth are for Brushing (last verse of Hands Are For Clapping from 
Jim Gill Sings the Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes)
• Brush Your Teeth by Raffi or Marylee 
• I've Got All These Teeth in My Mouth from Growing Book by Book 

For more household early literacy activities, see my other Early Literacy Around the House posts. 

Babies Need Words Every Day Blog Tour: Singing in Story Time

Today I'm participating in a blog tour to help promote a great new resource from ALSC: Babies Need Words Every Day posters! The posters were designed by the Early Childhood Programs and Services committee using illustrations by Il Sung Na. Each poster highlights one of four early literacy practices: sing, talk, read, and play. My post today is inspired by this poster (shown below), which focuses on singing.

Singing is as much a part of my story times as stories themselves, and it is my favorite way to interact with babies. There are many ways to model singing during story time; these are the ones I use most.

• Sing with props.  Singing with a puppet or other prop can make you - and parents - feel more at ease, since some of the focus is taken off of the singer and placed onto the object instead. Farm animal puppets are great for Old MacDonald Had a Farm, shaker eggs pair well with Shake My Sillies Out, and a scarf is wonderful for songs involving waving, washing, or hiding. By using items you have in your story time stash to inspire your song choices, you show caregivers how they can be inspired to sing by the toys and stuffed animals in their children's environment.
• Sing about bodies. As the poster suggests, singing during diaper changes is a great way to promote a baby's early literacy skills. You can help parents build their repertoire of songs to sing at diaper time by introducing body-themed songs into your story times. Head, Shoulders Knees, and Toes, Tony Chestnut, Eyes Nose Cheeky Cheeky Chin, Where is Big Toe?, and Where Oh Where Are Baby's Fingers? have all been big hits in my story times, and at home with my three-month-old.
• Sing a picture book. There are many board book and picture book versions of favorite children's songs. Engage babies and their caregivers by singing some of your stories! The Babies Need Words Every Day book list includes several singable titles: 
• Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star by Caroline Jayne Church
• Baa Baa Black Sheep by Annie Kubler
• Itsy Bitsy Spider by Annie Kubler
• The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani
• The Babies on the Bus by Karen Katz
• Sing a nursery rhyme. Nursery rhymes are a great way to introduce babies to rarely used vocabulary and fun rhythm and rhyme. Some popular nursery rhymes have been set to music, like Hey Diddle Diddle, Little Boy Blue, and Mary Had a Little Lamb. Many also fit the tune of 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall. Children's singer Marylee has a great album filled with singable nursery rhymes.

As a proponent of finding early literacy opportunities in everyday places, I think these posters are a great low-pressure way to keep parents and caregivers aware of the opportunities for sharing language that exist all around them, in the places their children visit in their daily routines. To reach families with babies, consider hanging a poster or two in a church crying room or bathroom, in the waiting room of a pediatrician's office, or above the changing tables at baby gyms and clothing stores, as well as in your library's children's area and story time space.

This blog tour continues all week. Check Reading with Red for the full schedule.