C and I both love reading, so one of the things we hope Noah will inherit from us is the love of books. We weren’t one of those parents who read to the baby while he was still in my womb, but we’ve been reading quite regularly to him over the past few months. I found a list of suggested titles for babies/toddlers, and selected a few of them for C to buy when he was in the US on a business trip. I also asked a few of my friends for recommendations and some very kindly passed me their kids’ pre-loved books too!
Currently, my personal favourite bedtime reading for Noah are two books by Sandra Boynton: The Going to Bed Book and Pajama Time!. In fact, I love all her books so far, as they have very colourful drawings and easy-to-remember rhymes. I’ve read the books so often to Noah that I have already memorised the text in both these books, and sometimes, when we are out and he gets cranky, I start reciting them to him and it calms him down immediately. I’m really looking forward to the day that he can read aloud along with me, though I know that won’t happen any time soon. For now, I’m just glad that he sits quietly with me when I read to him, and we sometimes go through quite a few at a time.
Another favourite is of course, the ever popular The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We got this as a hand-me-down from a friend, and Noah seems to enjoy having it read to him too. I’ve read that children love having the same books read to them over and over again, so I try to stick to a few books at a time. For a period of time, I tried introducing him to Bear Snores On, but for some strange reason, Noah would start whining each time I started reading it to him. Initially, I thought he just wasn’t in the mood for a book, but once I picked up another book, usually a Sandra Boynton one such as Barnyard Dance!, he would quieten down again and sit through the entire book reading. Perhaps babies do understand more than what we give them credit for…
Keen to buy books for yourself or your little one, but don’t know where to look? Kinokuniya is always a nice place to start, if you enjoy browsing in a bookstore, but if you are like me and prefer shopping online, two websites that offer reasonably priced books are Book Depository and Fishpond. Both offer free international shipping, and like a typical kiasu Singaporean, I compare the price of a book on both sites before making my purchase. I’ve only ordered books from Book Depository so far, but I plan to try Fishpond next time, if I can get a good deal on it. Happy shopping! 🙂
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