2 adult books on the importance of reading to children

Baby Read- Aloud Basics - Caroline J Blakemore and Barbara Weston Ramirex. Found this book in Borders, and absolutely love it. It's a detailed study of how you read to babies under 24 months in ways that grab and maintain their interest levels, and what babies gain from having books read to them from even a few weeks old. It sums up everything I feel about the importance of sharing books with babies, and should probably be given away free in Bounty packs. Some of the Americanisms grate slightly, but that's a small moan overall.

Give Your Child Real Learning Power - Barrie Wade and Maggie More. This is a British book looking at the importance of reading to babies, with specific reference to the Bookstart project. It's a bit less detailed and scientific than Baby Read-Aloud Basics, but the message comes across loud and clear. I do like the chapter advising parents what's in it for them by reading extensively to their babies, and can vouch that the benefits listed do indeed apply to mummies as well as babies. And daddies of course. One small moan. They cite the example of a baby called Zoe, whose mother shared books with her from birth, and Zoe's mother states: "Right from go, when she started holding a book herself, she has never had it the wrong way round". Really? Jessicat has been read to from being only a few months old, and loves to hold her books, but most of the time, they are upside down, and I do find myself a bit sceptical about this claim.

Looking forward to my 34th birthday tomorrow and a new term of activities starting for Jessicat and me next week. October 5ths is National Bookstart day, so I am expecting to see lots of posters and activities advertised for us to get involved with!

New photos added

Have finally got round to uploading some more recent photos of Jessicat. It's a hectic weekend here; not only is it our wedding anniversary tomorrow, but I have a new MP3 player to distract me, and am trying to plan my birthday outing. I will be back soon to blog about Jessicat's latest books.

Tired Mummy alert

On Wednesday night, Jessicat decided that she most definitely was NOT ready for bed at 6.45pm, and let us know by screaming for over half an hour. Yikes! Shattered nerves all round and nervous consulting of books ensued. I've come to the sorry conclusion that the halcyon days of 2 daytime naps are now over, so Jess will be having a lunchtime sleep only.

On the plus side, Jessicat can now clap (she seems to be learning something new almost daily at the moment). More posts later on our late summer reading.

Proud mummy alert

Now, maybe I should be getting out a bit more, but I am so proud of Jessicat today. Yesterday, when Dave was singing "Twinkle Twinkle" to her, she began imitating the actions, opening and closing her chubby little starfish hands whenever we began the song. That made me feel that all the singing, reading and playing we do together is helping her to learn things.

Visited Emerson's Green library on Saturday, and managed to pick up the following books:

Wibbly Pig Opens His Presents - Mick Inkpen. Jessicat's favourite Wibbly Pig book so far; she seems fascinated by the concept of presents (well, who isn't?)

Busy Park - Rebecca Finn. Good sturdy book that Jessicat can actually manage to operate in parts.

I Like It When - Mary Murphy. I do like this writer! Jessicat and I read this, and I imitate as many of the actions as possible. Jess is even able to point to various objects when asked.

Let's Play, Alfie Bear - Catherine Walters. This book is really a bit too old for Jessicat at the moment, so I tend to skip the text and just talk about the pictures at this stage.

9 months old

Yesterday, we reached the 9 month point. I am so proud of how well Jessicat is coming on. She can now: wave (pretty much to order), lean her face into ours to give us a kiss, put up her hand to shake hands or high five, turn pages of a book to order, point to some objects when asked (a bit hit and miss this), blow raspberries, babble and sing and scream, feed herself with finger foods, take her weight on her feet and participate enthusiastically in games of peekaboo. No sign yet of crawling, and despite my early excitement a few weeks ago, no readily recognizable words, though lots of approximations of "dada" and "mama", but mostly without meaning still I'm afraid to say.

In some ways, sharing books with Jessicat is more difficult than it used to be, as she is impatient to turn the pages, and nearly always wants to take charge, which means it is difficult to follow any kind of narrative. But, interestingly, when sat on the floor surrounded by toys, she nearly always makes a beeline for one of her board books, amusing herself by turning the pages and fingering the spine or "kissing" pictures of other babies.

I've spent this week listening to The Crane Wife by the Decemberists. I wouldn't normally go for this kind of folk-rock, but the strong melodies and lyrics of this band have captivated me. TV wise, I've watched The Taming of the Shrew from the BBC Shakespeare Re-Told series (I love them!) and I'm reading a collection of Boris Johnson's newspaper columns. Been a bit off colour this week, so I am definitely ready for a weekend with Dave and Jess!

New books on the go

Some more new experiences for Jessicat this week: we took her to the City of Bristol Museum at the top of Park Street (great play area for little ones and she was very excited by the fish!) and for a browse round Border's bookshop (I will never forget the few happy hours I spent browsing in there oblivious to the fact I was in early labour).

Our latest crop of books from the library include:

That's Not My Bear - F Watts
Playtime Peekaboo - from the Dorling Kindersley stable
I Spy You - Jan Ormerod (raises a smile this one, just as Jan Oremerod's other book did)
Touch and Feel Fluffy Kitten - Rod Campbell
Lullaby Baby - from the Amazing Baby series.

Had Jessicat weighed last week. She is now 22lbs (and doesn't my back know it!) and is on the 91st percentile for weight and height - perfect. Going to be a strapping lass like her mummy!

We love Rod Campbell!

My Presents is Jessicat's favourite book of the moment; nothing else comes near. She gets excited as I pause before lifting the flap to reveal the toy, and heavy handedly attempts to open them herself. Fortunately, they are made of cardboard, so able to withstand Jess's loving ministrations.

Other books currently on the go include:

Sing Along with Spot - Eric Hill
Mr Bear Says I love You - Debi Gliori (so far, Jessicat is not the biggest fan of the Mr Bear series, but both of us loved the compilation of nursery rhymes illustrated by Ms Gliori)
Feely Bugs - David A Carter. Great textures!
That's Not My Kitten - F Watt
Spot's Playbook - Eric Hill. We have been lucky enough to find a brand new copy of this in the Central library. I love the sensual pleasure to be gained from handling and smelling new books (is that weird?)

August is here

A couple of new events for Jessicat over the last week. Last Sunday, she attended a birthday party for the first time ever; her friend, Gracie, from Stay and Play was 1. Jess enjoyed a short time in the ball pool and loved playing with Gracie's musical toys. It was a joy to see her enjoying herself; I am still haunted by memories of her early days when she was so unsettled in anyone else's house.

Today, Jessicat and I caught a bus together (another first!) to attend the singing session held at the Central library. This is a fabulous library for children, with a separate play area and extensive collection of board books. We will be going back! It was exciting for Jess and me to be in town together, as there is so much to look at. We popped into the cathedral, stopped to look at the fountains in the centre, and Jessicat was admired by lots of passers by (proud mummy emoticon).

Books - of course - continue to be a major source of entertainment and enjoyment for Jessicat. She still loves me to lie beside her on the floor at 4pm for a daily book session as a precursor to her tea. At the moment, Jess loves to turn pages, and often does not even want to wait until I have finished the page before moving on. She is becoming increasingly fascinated with books as objects, mouthing them, poking them, and studying the shape of them closely. I can forsee that chunky board books and "feely" books will be a major part of our repetoire for some time to come.