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Good Tips for Grown-Ups

• Read aloud every day. When you cuddle up with a book, your child learns to connect books with comforting feelings.
  
  
• Talk to your baby. Babies learn words when they hear you speak, sing, and read.
  
  
• Make bath time reading time, and give your child waterproof books to hold or read to your baby as he plays in the tub.

Click here for simple everyday activities you can do with your baby! And browse our tips for reading aloud with babies.

Great Books for Baby

• Babies like books with contrasting colors and simple pictures. Black and white pictures are recommended for newborns. 
  
  
• Choose chunky board books with sturdy pages that hold up to sucking and grabbing.
  
  
• Many books are also playthings. Some have textures to touch. Others squeak or make music. Appeal to all of your baby's senses.

Browse our booklist for a list of great books to try with your baby.

Fun Ideas for Together Time

• Check out song and nursery rhyme books at the library.
  
  
• It's never too early to start a home library. Bookstores, yard sales, and flea markets sell books that children will treasure for years.
  
  
• Tape record your baby's favorite stories or songs and play at bedtime or on car trips.

Click here for a collection of online sing-along songs and nursery rhymes you can share with your baby!