~~Back-To-Press Baby Reader sale~~ Rock-A-Bye Baby Reader and Despertar a la lectura! Orders of 200 or more total Baby Readers qualify for $1.95/book sales price plus S&H while supplies remain or until May 31, 2008. See Baby Reader SALE! page for details and order form. |
|
Both Baby Readers use simple language to educate parents about the importance of reading to their babies. They reinforce the messages of educators and promote the establishment of reading traditions in new families.
The Readers use traditional rhymes because parents are often familiar with them and they help babies learn to distinguish between different sounds as they acquire language skills.
Why were the Baby Readers created?
The Reader project was initiated and supported by the Rock County (MN) Friends of the Library and Rock County's Collaborative. This effort was undertaken because, although medical and educational research consistently reveal the importance of reading to infants, it didn't seem that the information was reaching the people who needed to hear it most -- the young moms and dads who aren't likely to study parenting books or to read well-meant pamphlets. On our Reader pages, the recent findings of developmental research are presented in simple, encouraging sentences.
What is the message of the Readers?
The Readers stress family involvement. Their pages combine brightly illustrated classic nursery rhymes with short Parent Notes about the important "first and best teacher" role that parents play in the educational development of their children. Photographs of real parents reading to babies reinforce this theme of family involvement. The Readers, begun as a project of the Rock County Friends of the Library, also endorse library use and encourage families to visit libraries and continue to read together.
|
A Spanish-language Reader-- does Humpty Dumpty translate well?
Because Despertar a la lectura's audience is new parents who are most comfortable reading in Spanish, its Parent Notes are in Spanish. We've used traditional poems of Spanish-language cultures (e.g., Tortillitas, Un elefante se balanceaba) as the read-aloud material for parents to share with babies. Fun, rhyming English-language translations of the poems are also presented to allow parents to read aloud to their babies in Spanish and/or English. | |
Where are the Readers used?
The Rock County (MN) Collaborative's interest in the Rock-A-Bye Baby Reader paved the way for the first printing. The Collaborative, comprised of various county agencies serving families (e.g., Public Health, Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE)) currently provides each infant born in Rock County with a Reader during scheduled home visits. The Collaborative was pleased with the English Reader and requested a Spanish-language Reader to serve its growing number of Spanish-speaking families. Despertar a la lectura is the result.
Many of Minnesota's ECFE programs are using the English and Spanish Baby Readers in parenting, parent-infant, and family literacy classes. Some communities give Baby Readers to babies during home visits and in New Baby packets. Our Baby Reader covers are pre-printed with To/From gift tags so sponsoring organizations can personalize their gifts. |
|
