There are a lot of really good board
books for Montessori toddlers. But right now, with Otto at 16 months,
there are two series that really stand out for me! If you have a toddler
there is a good chance you have one of these books in your home. If you
are a new parent or looking for a gift for a toddler, you can't go
wrong with these.
At this age (0-3 years) the child is
trying to make sense of the environment and the life around them. So we
offer not only books that are reality based but are relevant and
familiar to the child's life and daily activities. "Books can be a
big help if they are well chosen. We should check if they present
reality... The reality is that of people, family and the environment in
which they live, which they experience directly. Starting from this base
they expand their knowledge." - Understanding the Human Being.
For this reason we love books about birds, flowers, insects, farms or
trucks (especially garbage trucks), or that contain babies or parts of
the body.
At 16 months Otto is in the locutory
phase (12-20 months) and loves to point and name. Language cards could
be used here but we are finding these simple books useful for this
purpose. "There is a 'sensitive period' for naming things... and if
adults respond to the hunger for words in an appropriate way, they can
give their children a richness and precision of lanuage that will last a
lifetime." - Silvana Montanaro in The Joyful Child. The child is wanting to know the names of things and books like these can help to satisfy that need.
First 100 Books
by Priddy Books. For a toddler I find the actual words on these books
unnecessary but they do help the adult, it couldn't be easier for the
adult to give the chid the name of the items. We have First 100 Animals, First 100 Words and First Farm Words.
I am not sure if there are different US and UK versions, some words are
not what we would use in Australia but it's easy to look past them. We
also have First 100 Christmas words which was a hit at Christmas time.
DK My First
Books. I love that for the most part these have a white background and
they give the names of the parts of the items, it just has a little more
detail than the Priddy Books. Otto loves every single one of these, we
have My First Things That Go, My First Trucks and My First Body. These not only allow the child to name the items but to put them into context.
Babies love looking at other babies!
While I adore these books, children
obviously need story books too, these type of point and name books are
just one type of book we can explose our children to. Another one of
Otto's favourite books is A New Day,
it shows the child going through their day and it has a real familiar
tone, it shows the child's day from morning to night and it has lots of
pictures of everyday life including sibilings who are building with
blocks, going on a walk, parents cooking in the kitchen, reading a
bedtime story, it's just lovely!