Kids > Reading and writing > Booklists > Books and Music for Babies

Books and Music for Babies

Early literacy begins at birth, when your baby hears your voice and starts to learn the rhythm of language. Early literacy activities for babies include hearing songs, rhymes, and stories; babbling; tracking pictures with their eyes; and touching books, such as when your baby tries to turn the pages, pulles the book out of your hand, pats or even chews on a book.

Print motivation and print awareness
Vocabulary development
Phonological awareness
Music
Authors to look for

Print motivation and print awareness

Read often with your baby to develop your baby's love for books. Babies listen even when they move around while you read. Choose books with simple, bold pictures or real photos to attract your baby's attention.

Alexander: A, You're Adorable

jbb
Boyton: Moo, Baa, La, La, La

jbb
Harwood: Amazing Baby I Love You!

jbb
Hoban: White on Black

jbb
Horacek: Bird Fly High

jbb
Intrater: Peek-a-Boo

jbb
Murphy: I Kissed the Baby

jbb, jE Toddler MURPHY
O'Connell: The Baby Goes Beep

jE Toddler OCONNELL
Parr: This is My Hair

jbb

Vocabulary development

Your baby may not be talking yet, but he or she is watching and listening to you. This is how your baby learns language. Point to pictures in the books and label them to encourage your baby's vocabulary development. Choose books with pictures that look like real people, animals and objects.

—: Animal Talk

jbb
—: Bodies

jbb
—: Diggers and Dumpers

jbb
—: Farm Babies

jbb
—: Noisy Farm

jbb
—: Numbers

jbb
—: Words in My World

jbb
Bang: Ten, Nine, Eight

jbb, jE Concept BANG
Blake: Off to Bed

jbb
Brown: Goodnight Moon

jbb, jE BROWN
Cimarusti: Peek-a-Moo!

jE Toddler CIMARUSTI
dePaola: Te amo, sol, Te amo, luna

I Love You, Sun, I Love You, Moon

S-jE
Harwood: Amazing Baby Peekaboo, Puppy!

jbb
Lloyd: Whose Tail?

jbb
Shannon: Oops!

jbb
Weber: Animal Babies Around the House

jbb

Phonological awareness

Phonological awareness is the ability to hear the smaller sounds in words. Most children who struggle with reading have poor phonological awareness. Choose books that have rhyming text that plays with the sounds in our lanaguage to encourage your child's developing phonological awareness.

—: My Very First Mother Goose

jE MOTHER
—: Pio Peep!: Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes

S-j 398.8 P6621 2003
Asim: Whose Knees Are These?

jbb
Butler: Can You Cuddle Like a Koala?

jbb
Chorao: The Baby's Lap Book

j 398.8 C551bL
Katz: Ten Tiny Tickles

jE Concept KATZ
Kubler: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

jbb
Laden: Grow Up!

jbb
Losordo: Cow Moo Me

jbb
Martin: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

jbb, jE MARTIN
Pearson: Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling

jbb
Pinkney: Hush, Little Baby

jE PINKNEY
Root: Quack!

jbb
Shaw: Sheep in a Jeep

jbb, jE SHAW
Taylor: Baby Dance

jbb

Authors to look for

Byron Barton
Penny Gentieu
Tana Hoban
Roberta Grobel Intrater
Margaret Miller
Helen Oxenbury
Nicola Smee

Music

Music encourages early literacy development. Songs rhyme, introduce new words, and play with sounds that make up words. Sing with your baby and listen to music together to develop your baby's listening skills, memory and motor skills.