Books for kids: The first step towards learning

It is said that babies start learning from their mother while they are still in the womb. They recognize their mother's voice from the time of their birth and listen intently whenever they hear that special voice. So, it is relatively easy for Mommy to teach her kiddo the basic things about learning.

Books for kids are great for teaching babies the basics of alphabets and the number system. However, when buying any book for your baby, look for the following criteria:

1. Durability: Try to avoid purchasing regular paper books for your baby. When your little angel reaches for the book with his/her tiny hands, chances are you will hand it over. After that it is only a matter of time before he/she smothers it with a lot of baby love, not to mention some generous slathering with saliva and drool. In order to make sure that the book survives the ordeal, purchase board-bound books, in which each page has a polymer coating. This will protect the book from all the moisture that a baby can put on it, and make it last for a few years.


2. Bright colors: A baby's book needs to have lots of brightly colored pictures in order to capture the attention of the baby. Babies are naturally attracted to bright colors, and it will become much easier to hold their attention if there are lots of colorful pictures to add a graphic image to what you read to him/her. The pictures will also help him/her identify the words he/she hears with real-life objects.


3. Pin-less binding: There should be no pins or metallic objects used in holding the pages together. Stitch with threads is ok. But metal objects that can get loosened and come off are absolute no-no. The baby's tugging on the pages can pry off some of the pins/metallic objects and cause serious injury to the baby.


4. Rounded corners: This is a constant danger that most of us don't realize. Babies have a habit of sucking or biting on anything they can get in their hands, and your new book will be no exception to this rule. Sharp corners can hurt a baby's mouth and tongue, causing injuries. Make sure the book has pages with rounded corners in order to avoid this.

Enjoy reading to your baby. It is your voice that he/she loves to hear, and your reading is sure to give a head start to your baby's lifelong learning process.