I’m as fussy about the books I buy as I am about the toys we get for our children. The books I add to my collection have to fulfil quite a number of criteria and I thought I’d share two recent buys that I absolutely adore as well as the questions I ask myself before I make the purchase.
Are the illustrations beautiful?
Yes i totally judge a book by its cover and the illustrations inside 😂. This is also because I have a 15mo who has the attention span of about 2sec when it comes to books and if it’s not interesting enough to capture her interest, I would have lost her completely.
Do they invite you to look closer and pore over the pages a little bit longer?
Do they inspire creativity and imagination, evoke emotions and raise questions from curious minds?
Do they enable connections to be drawn and made from life experiences?
Can I use these books across different ages?
I love that these two books introduce colours and patterns using things from the natural world. Imagine how exciting a trip to the local farmer’s market/supermarket or a nature walk could be knowing that colours and patterns are everywhere around them if they observe closely. It allows Miss 15mo to make connections between things she’s seen and experienced. For instance, when we first looked at the colour red using the book on the left, there was a moment where she paused in thought, then suddenly got up to get that wooden strawberry and a felt tomato from amongst her toys and matched them to the pictures on her own accord. When we talked about the red chilli, she also spontaneously mentioned “mama” (her grandma), remembering that she’s got several chilli plants in her garden.
I also love the fact that I can use this book across so many ages. This being a board book, it’s perfect for introducing new language and vocabulary to infants and young toddlers. For older toddlers and preschoolers, there are also possibilities for matching, sorting, comparing and contrasting. The pages from the book of patterns in particular are great as prompts and inspiration for engaging in process art and making transient art using loose parts.
Choosing the right books do go a long way in enhancing learning 🙂
