DIY little bookworm

one of the first things that i bought for Leonardo’s nursery, before he was even born, were books. being an avid book lover myself, i couldn’t wait to start reading for him. I imagined our cozy cuddles on a sofa, flipping trough the pages with pretty pictures together, both of us absorbed in a story.

well, it didn’t happen exactly like that. in fact for many months Leo didn’t show any interest in books whatsoever, unless he could chew on them. every time I tried sitting him on my lap with a book in front of us, he would start to wiggle his way out impatiently. it was frustrating but i was not ready to give up. I started researching about book-reading to infants and asking around fellow mamas. it was even more frustrating to hear from parents of younger infants smth like “Oh he just looooves books!” or “His favorite one is “The Hungry Caterpillar” – he just insist on reading it again and again”. “Really?” I thought to myself, trying to imaging my 5mo insisting on reading him a book, feeling slightly jealous and a bit of a failure – I guess I don’t do it right, because obviously it’s a parent’s task to teach their kids to love books.

but judgements and sentiments aside, I just decided to be patient and keep on insisting. I noticed that books with busy graphics don’t grab Leo’s attention at all, while simple and contrast pictures do, even if only for a short while. same goes about long stories vs. short ones, verse vs. rhyme. I made a revision of his library and stored some of the books for the future, adding more of brightly colored board books with simple graphic and just a line or two of a story, some with textures and sounds, some with peek-a-boo flipping parts. I did keep the diversity of languages though – in our little family we speak English (badly, as you probably noticed! both my husband and I are foreigners, and our only hope is that Leo will be better at this), Russian, Spanish and Italian. Leo is being exposed to all these languages simultaneously, and his books reflect that as well.

I also reorganized his playground and nursery. before I kept his books in a picture-perfect order on a wall shelf, sort of like room decoration. I kept some of them there because he does like looking at them when he wakes up, but the most sturdy board books were relocated into his playground and into the boxes with other toys. I also strategically placed his books all around the living room, in his favorite places to play and explore, sometimes mixed with our own grown-up items – just because he loves to ramble through them so much. and whenever he picked up a book I just sat next to him and started reading. sometimes it was just a page,and then his attention would defer to smth more exciting. but the more we were doing it, the longer he would stay, and the more pages we would go through. I also started bringing books with me when we go for a walk or to eat out, as well as we have a book with rhymes for the bathtime. at bedtime I pretend that I read “Love you forever” – I know it by heart by now, but I do flip the pages with pretty pictures, even if it’s only for the sound they make. hey, every little thing matters, right?

now Leonardo is 9 month old, and I can finally – and proudly! – say that he does like books! it’s not love yet, but it is an interest and appreciation for sure. he even has his favorites: “Munch” and “Where is baby’s belly button”. these two we actually read cover to cover,and sometimes all over again. both books are in English, but I read it to him in Russian, translating as I go. we also spend good amount of time in the local library. it’s good to be surrounded by books, and I only hope that one day he will love it as much as I do.

here are some of our other favorites (the last row – i must admit – are my own personal favorites for now, but i do hope that Leonardo will grow into these two soon!):

I also found these very useful:

11 Ways to Instill a Love of Reading

How to Raise a Reader