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ACTIVITY => Activity Time & Toddler Activity => Topic started by: Marisa's Mom on May 07, 2006, 17:31:05 pm

Title: Board Books vs Hardcover Books
Post by: Marisa's Mom on May 07, 2006, 17:31:05 pm
When did your toddler upgrade from Board books to Hardcover books? I'm just trying to get a general idea of what age range Board books are for, and when it becomes "safe" to get Hardcover books.

DD is 13 mos old and still chewing on books. Sigh... I wonder when this will end. I have some Hardcover books I'd like to read to her, but I'm afraid they'll get damaged, so I've put them away until she's old enough. One of them is The Six Wrinkled Woos of Hawaii (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1566477018/sr=8-2/qid=1147022937/ref=sr_1_2/103-4814318-4806226?%5Fencoding=UTF8) which I'm dying to read to her, but I don't want her to tear out the pages, well not just yet...  ;)

Title: Re: Board Books vs Hardcover Books
Post by: Samuel's mum on May 07, 2006, 19:05:11 pm
I think it's OK to have a range of books which fulfill different purposes. Some books are OK to chew e.g cloth ones, bath ones. Board books are great to encourage them to turn the page independently because they are easier to manipulate. I still encourage board books at almost 2 for this reason. I think it's also OK to have 'special' books which you read with mummy and get looked after very carefully and mummy puts them away again. Even when they are beyond chewing, books can still get ripped accidentally when turning pages enthusiastically. That can be the one you turn. So I would get it out now but just treat it in a certain way (like Tracy and her china ornaments in the BW book).



Wrinkled woos?????
Title: Re: Board Books vs Hardcover Books
Post by: Marisa's Mom on May 08, 2006, 02:29:37 am
Board books are great to encourage them to turn the page independently because they are easier to manipulate. I still encourage board books at almost 2 for this reason.

DD likes board books now, especially flipping the pages. It was easier to read to her before she learned how to flip pages, LOL. Now I am waiting for the day when she will let me stay on one page long enough for me to read the few words that are on it. She also loves to flip the pages on magazines and catalogs.

Do they ever outgrow board books or lose interest in that format?

I guess it can't hurt to get her some more board books for more variety. One of her favorites right now is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" which I can recite by heart now.  :-\

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805047905/sr=8-1/qid=1147054938/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-4814318-4806226?%5Fencoding=UTF8

I've been meaning to pick up some of those baby ABC (first words), 123, Colors, etc type books. She doesn't really have any of those types yet. Do you have any recommendations?

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I think it's also OK to have 'special' books which you read with mummy and get looked after very carefully and mummy puts them away again.

You're right, I can still read these to her, just have to put them away in a safe place afterwards.

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Wrinkled woos?????

It's such a cute story, and I love the artwork in the book. I got it through a friend who showed it to me, otherwise I would never have known about it. It's really hard to find it in a bookstore.

Title: Re: Board Books vs Hardcover Books
Post by: Samuel's mum on May 08, 2006, 19:31:45 pm
I would say that board books tend to go on for as long as the stories in them hold interest!! These days some pretty sophisticated stories are being put into a board book format e.g the wombat books, Found You, Little Wombat or Sometimes I like to curl up in a ball or Kiss Goodnight Sam (guess why we bought that one!!) by Amy Hest.

I'm not an enormous fan of the 123 ,ABC , colours books that you are talking about. We've been given a few and they seem to contain pages of pictures - objects that are out of context and not always the correct size. When I was a teacher I sometimes used them with children who didn't speak any English but there are very 'sterile' and sometimes plain odd (like toddlers really need to know about screwdrivers but not pillows).
We have this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1405303581/qid=1147116369/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_2_4/203-4267281-8345539
I think the colour ones can be an introduction but I would take Brown Bear or another Eric Carle book to talk about colours any day.
For numbers I would start with http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0333947827/qid=1147116491/sr=1-27/ref=sr_1_2_27/203-4267281-8345539
or another book that has a real life context.
I would personally hold off on ABC entirely for a while.
That's just me! Feel free to ignore and if you find some great colors/abc/123 stuff pass it on!
Title: Re: Board Books vs Hardcover Books
Post by: tylersmommy on May 08, 2006, 19:38:56 pm
We still use mostly board books with Tyler. Even though he's much better at handling hardcover books, they just wear out too quickly. The pages get all bent up and torn, even if he's careful. We have a couple that we use for bedtime stories, so they aren't the ones that he reads day to day.

Another plus for board books...they can be colored in with washable crayons and wiped clean with a wet cloth! We've had a hard time trying to explain the difference between coloring books and reading books, but when I realized they can just be cleaned and weren't ruined, I stopped caring and let him color away! And he loves to help me wipe the books clean, too. :)
Title: Re: Board Books vs Hardcover Books
Post by: Marisa's Mom on May 09, 2006, 00:10:10 am
Another plus for board books...they can be colored in with washable crayons and wiped clean with a wet cloth!

Now that's something I never would have thought of trying! LOL.

At what age did Tyler start drawing with crayons?  I haven't yet introduced them to DD yet. She played briefly with one at a restaurant, but I took it away from her when she was getting crayon all over herself (just from the rubbing as she was handling the crayon).


Title: Re: Board Books vs Hardcover Books
Post by: tylersmommy on May 09, 2006, 14:17:29 pm
Tyler wasn't interested in coloring until he was about 18 mo, but even then, it was just a scribble and he was done. When he turned 2, he really got into them and now coloring is one of his favorite things to do.
Title: Re: Board Books vs Hardcover Books
Post by: GG on May 10, 2006, 02:48:10 am
DS has all board books with the exception of 1 hardcover book that he helps me turn the pages on. I haven't seen any good non-board books that he would be interested in so I haven't bought any.  There are too many words and the pictures are usually too complicated.

I've been reading "Brown Bear" to him since he was 6 months old (he was helping me turn the pages since 8 mo or so!!). (I made the story into a song and even sung it to him at bedtime.) I just had to go out and get the "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, what do you hear" book (also made into another song :)).  I like 2 Dr. Seuss books for him right now: "The Foot Book" and "Mr. Brown Can Moo".

I assume that he's not interested in the story any more when he starts turning the pages really fast but yeah, he does that, too, much of the time.  The lift-the-flap books are good because he has to take the time to open them, so I get to read the page (plus there aren't many words). Only problem is, eventually, the flaps can get pulled off if he doesn't do it right, but I figured that it's just being put to good use.  These are the 2 I've gotten for him:

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