When you give a baby a book...

When you give a baby a book...

... you just might hear words transform from a simple muffin to something silly like, "moose-a-muffin". Story: Bean loves the book If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff so muffins are no longer called a basic, boring muffin in our house.

... you just might see a handful of favorites pulled from the shelf multiple times throughout the day. It might be "read aloud" alone or you might hear the question, "Mommy, read it?" 

... you might just capture adorable moments such as this...

Reading with daddy.

Reading with a friend.

Reading on a blow-up-pool device.

Reading in a ball play pit with friends.

Reading wherever and leaving a trail.

Wearing whatever while reading.

Making memories.

Reading with a friend at their birthday party.

Reading at the library.

Reading at a friends house.

Reading in a coffee shop.

... you might just find that with little or no effort your child begins to recognize shapes, colors, letters and words...

... you might also find that children's books are FUN reads and enjoy that time with your child so much that it's one of the best parts of your day...

... you have the perfect Christmas and birthday presents year after year after year...

... you might just become BFF's with the librarian who discards a book that's falling apart to give to Bean because she knows she loves it...

... you might just share a few favorites with your little reader like The Monkey Goes Bananas by C.P. Bloom or Wiggle by Doreen Cronin (Author) and Scott Menchin (Illustrator)...

Books have always been a major part of my life and it was my intention from the beginning of motherhood to make it a big part of my daughters' life as well. Perhaps that's why I chose to be a reading teacher early on in life? (wink, wink) If you're interested in seeing all that we do on a daily basis, read the post, How I Got My 18 Month Old Interested in Books and be sure to check out my Reading and Writing page as well. Also check out my teaching blog, RafiKey's to Success that's full of more tips for secondary English/language arts teachers.

I have no doubt that by simply reading, reading, reading and reading I'll see the same success with all my children, not just my Briella Bean. I think that by giving your baby a book, you might just see and hear and enjoy all books have to offer as well...