What We Know About Early Literacy

The first three years of a child’s life are important in so many ways. Early experiences with speaking, playing, reading and singing all contribute to healthy brain development. These language and communication experiences all help to lay the foundation for learning to read when a child enters school, so parents like you are indeed a baby’s first and most important teacher.

Boost Your Baby’s Brain Power with Books
 

• Share books with your baby every day—even a few minutes can make a difference.
• Choose books with colorful pictures and simple words—or no words at all.
• Talk, sing, and do finger plays with your baby throughout the day.
• Hold the book so that your child can see the pictures and don’t forget to read with expression.
• Make reading an interactive experience by encouraging your child to point out objects, repeat words, and talk about the story.
• Help a child stay actively involved with the story by asking open-ended questions. For example, after reading Goodnight Moon, you might ask “What do you say Good Night to in your room?
• Read or tell stories in the language you are most comfortable with—it doesn’t have to be English.
• Help your child develop an understanding that words are made up of smaller sounds—by playing games with the sounds of words and repeating rhymes.

Attend the Library’s Free Storytimes

The Ferguson Library offers regularly scheduled free programs at the Main Library and the Branches for young children including babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and families. Call 964-1000, ext. 242 for times, locations and registration information.

Check Out Our Resources for Young Children

The library has a rich and diverse collection of materials appropriate for the young child:

Board Books – Sturdy in format, these age-appropriate stories fit easily into tiny hands.

Picture Books – The Library offers a wide selection of stories, traditional rhymes, and easy folktales.

Cassettes and CD’s – Many selections, such as the collections of lullabies and classical music recordings, are specifically tailored to very young children.

Videos/DVD’s – This collection specializes in award-winning productions based on favorite children’s books, as well as programs that stimulate babies using a combination of music, repetition, and animation.

CD ROMs – Programs like “Jump-Start Baby” are designed to help your young child become familiar with the computer, and use it to learn pre-reading skills.

Share These Great Books with Your Baby

You can find all these books at The Ferguson Library. In addition, our librarians are always available to make individualized reading recommendations for you and your baby. (All books are located in the EPIC–Easy Picture Books–section unless otherwise noted).
 

Mommy's Best Kisses, Anastas, Margaret
Animal mommies lovingly nuzzle their babies.

Ten, Nine, Eight, Bang, Molly
A little girl and her dad engage in a simple countdown before bed.

Goodnight Moon, Brown, Margaret Wise
This classic story says “goodnight” to each object in the great green room.

The Everything Book, Fleming, Denise
Teach and amuse your baby with a treasury of rhymes, simple concepts, and more.

Time For Bed, Fox, Mem
All kinds of animal parents put their babies to sleep.

The Baby Dances, Henderson, Kathy
As she grows, a happy baby progresses from sleeping to dancing.

Where's Spot? (series), Hill, Eric
Spot the dog is always hiding, but babies love to find him.

Black on White (Board Book), Hoban, Tana
A wordless board book with high contrast objects for baby to identify.

Peekaboo Morning, Isadora, Rachel
Baby likes to play peekaboo all day long.

All Fall Down, Clap Hands, Say Goodnight, Tickle, Tickle (Board Book Series), Oxenbury, Helen
Whether they are eating, swinging or sleeping, four babies have fun.

Brown Sugar Babies, Smith, Charles R., Jr.
A celebration of caramel, chocolate and honey-colored babies.

Baby Dance (Board Book), Taylor, Ann
Daddy and baby love to dance.

Cara de Bebe Tildes, Phyllis
Limbacher Baby’s face shows many emotions.

Where Does the Brown Bear Go?, Weiss, Nicki
As night falls, the animals begin their journey home and end up at a surprising place.

My First Word Book, Wilkes, Angela
Baby can recognize familiar objects from the labeled pictures.

"More More More" Said the Baby: 3 Love Stories, Williams, Vera B
Three grownups can’t get enough of their “little ones.”

Rhymes and Games for Baby

Pio Peep!: Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes, Ada, Alma Flor A bilingual collection. E SPA 398.8 P

Pat-a-Cake and Play Rhymes, Cole, Joanna & Stephanie Calmenson E398.8 P

Tomie DePaola's Mother Goose, DePaola, Tomie E398.3 M

Animal Crackers: A Delectable Collection of Pictures, Poems, and Lullabies for the Very Young, Dyer, Jane E398.8 A

The Baby's Game Book, Wilner, Isabel E398.8 W

For Parents

The Black Parenting Book, Beal, Anne C., Linda Villaros, & Allison Abner J649.1 B Parent

Leamos!/Let's Read!, Behm, Mary and Richard. J649.68 B Parents

Babies Need Books: Sharing the Joy of Books with Children from Birth to Six, Butler, Dorothy J028.162 B Parents

Your Baby and Child: From Birth to Age Five, Leach, Penelope J649.122 L Parents

The Read-Aloud Handbook, Trelease, Jim J372.6 T Professional

The Books for Babies Program

The Books for Babies program provides every baby born in Stamford Hospital with a free book. This early literacy initiative is funded by The Friends of Ferguson Library, a volunteer organization supporting Stamford’s Public Library.

We gratefully acknowledge permission to use illustrations from Read To Your Bunny by Rosemary Wells, Scholastic c. 1997.