Invite an infant to sit next to you or on your lap to read a book. Introduce the book by pointing to the cover and encouraging the infant to look at the picture with you. Example: “Look at the babies! The babies are smiling! Our book tells us about babies doing fun things with their families.” Use the following strategies to engage the infant in the book:

• Invite the infant to help you turn the pages.
• Describe pictures in your own words. Point enthusiastically to what you describe. Some pictures may be challenging to figure out without your explicit help. Example: “Here is the grandma. Here is the baby on the grandma’s lap. The grandma is tasting the baby’s toes! The baby is laughing. The baby likes this game!”
• Describe and respond to gestures or vocalizations. Example: “You are pointing to your tummy. The daddy is kissing his baby’s tummy! This is the baby’s tummy. This is your tummy!”
• Help the infant connect book information to his/her own experiences. Example: “The baby is playing with his daddy. You play with your daddy!”
• Emphasize the repetitive words and phrases with a slower, lower, or higher voice. Examples: more, more, more; right in the middle; right on either side; right on the ends. Use a quieter voice for the section on little bird because the baby is tired and ready for bed.
• If time or infant interest is limited, focus on a section of the book rather than omitting pages. The sections are: little guy, little pumpkin, and little bird.
• Recognize the infant’s participation in the book sharing. Example: “We had fun reading this book together, Nora. We looked at the pictures of the babies with their families. You pointed to the picture of the baby going to sleep. I think you liked this book!”

Invite an older infant to read a book with you. The infant may wish to sit next to you or stand close while you read. Introduce the book and invite the infant to help you hold the book and turn the pages. A standing infant may want to use one hand to help turn the pages.

Once the infant is comfortable, point to and describe the picture on the book cover. Example: “Look at the babies. The babies are smiling and having fun! Our book is about babies doing things with people in their families.” Use the following strategies to engage the infant in the book:

• Use your own words to describe people, objects, and actions in the pictures. Point frequently to what you describe.
• Help the infant connect book information to his/her own experiences. Example: “You are looking at the baby hugging his grandma. You have a grandma, too!”
• Spend more time talking about pictures that seem to be of particular interest to the infant.
• Describe and respond to gestures and/or vocalizations. Example: “You said ‘more!’ All of the babies in our book say ‘more, more, more!’ You are helping me read our book!”
• Emphasize the repeated words ‘more, more, more!’ Explain that the babies in our book say “more” because they want to do a fun thing again. Some infants may repeat a version of the word ‘more’ with you.
• Vary the tone and tempo of your voice with the repeated phrases “right in the middle,” “right on either side,” and ”right on the ends.” Use a quieter voice for the little bird section because it involves a sleepy character and bedtime.
• Recognize the infant’s participation in the book reading. Example: “You helped me hold our book, Jayce. You pointed to the running baby. You helped me say ‘more!’ You turned the pages to see what was next! We had fun reading this book together.”