Easy Reading

The other day, my friend mentioned that she was making her son a book about routines to help him transition a bit more easily during nap time. She had attached pictures together including one of him having lunch, reading a story, having a diaper change and then finally, sleeping in his crib. It was a really cute idea and one that this tired mommy really needed to work so that she could have some peace during the day, and not an overtired, cranky toddler come five o’clock in the evening.

When she was describing the book, I remembered a picture book I had made for Bryce and Brody when they were just over one years old, to help them identify and familiarize themselves with all the names of all their family members. The book was created using Pint Size Productions, a wonderful site that makes custom board books. The thick paperboard has lasted almost two years now, withstanding two rounds of teething, endless games of tug of war (note to self-two of everything next time), and a lot of love, and drool. Its durability, and easy to turn pages, made this book the first, accessible piece of literature that Bryce and Brody could independently manipulate. Add in the meaningful content and it is still a beloved fixture during story-time in this house.

After chatting with my friend, I realized how many more options could be done with these personalized books to further Bryce and Brody’s learning -aside from a narration of routines, I am picturing an ABC book using objects around our home, a book of friends and teachers at school to take with us on vacation, a story we have thought up all on our own, with illustrations done by the kids, and even baby books to gift to friends during those first few weeks that are hard to capture by the parents themselves.

What I like most about these books is that they seem authentic to the children, similar to the other professionally published books in their libraries, yet they have a sense of ownership either in the content of the book or in the actual production themselves, which makes them intensely more meaningful. And, my kids cannot rip the pages or tabs out, like they have done with most of our other paperbacks and flip books.