Be Prepared: Become familiar with the book to identify sounds associated with items shown in the illustrations.

Invite an infant to sit 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: “Do you see the little boy with his dog? The dog is barking! The little boy is listening to the dog bark. Our book is about things we hear. We can listen to the sounds of things shown in our book. I wonder what we are going to hear!”

Encourage the infant to turn the book pages with you. Use book sharing strategies, such as the following:

• Point to and describe the pictures, emphasizing sounds associated with the pictures. Example: “This is a yellow bird. Do you see the bird’s mouth? The bird is singing! ‘Tweet, tweet,’ sings the bird! The little boy is smiling. I think he likes listening to the bird.”
• Pause and talk about pictures that seem to be of particular interest to the infant. You may wish to provide additional context or information. Example: “The little boy is sitting with his grandfather. Look! The little boy is listening to his grandfather’s watch! See the watch? ‘Tick, tock,’ says the watch.”
• Describe and respond to gestures or vocalizations. Example: “You said, ‘baby.’ Yes, this is a baby! The baby is crying. ‘Boo-hoo,’ says the baby.”
• Help the infant connect book information to their own experiences and developing knowledge. Example: “This is a telephone. This telephone looks different from the telephone we have in our room! The little boy is holding the telephone. We can talk and listen on the phone. ‘Ring-ring! Hello?’”
• Exaggerate the sounds and say them with enthusiasm. Use your voice to add interest and enjoyment to the book reading.
• Follow the infant’s cues as you read the book. Turn the pages as slowly or as quickly as the infant seems to prefer.
• Recognize the infant’s participation in the book reading. Example: “We had fun reading this book together, Daniel. You listened to the different sounds. You said ‘baby’ when you looked at the picture of the baby crying. You smiled at the sound of the telephone ringing! 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 prefer to stand close while you read. Introduce the book and invite the infant to hold the book and turn the pages. You may wish to keep all of the pages in your right hand except for the page to be turned. This will help the infant to turn one page at a time. A standing infant may want to use one hand to help turn the pages.

Once the infant is comfortable and ready to read, point to the picture on the book cover. Example: “Look, do you see the little boy with his dog? The dog is barking! The little boy is covering his ear. I think the barking is too loud for him! Our book is about things we can hear. You can listen to the sounds in our book. I wonder what we are going to hear! Would you like to help me turn the page and see?” The infant may help you turn the page or turn the pages independently. Use strategies, such as the following, to share the book with the infant:

• Point to and describe the pictures, emphasizing the sound associated with the picture. Example: “This is a rain cloud. See the rain falling? The little boy has an umbrella to keep him dry! The rain is falling on the umbrella. ‘Plip-plop, plip-plop’ goes the rain.”
• Encourage the infant to repeat and say some of the sounds with you. Show enjoyment and enthusiasm as you say the sounds in the book.
• Invite the infant to point to objects that you label. Example: “Look at the little boy in his yellow raincoat. Do you see the little boy? Show me where the little boy is!”
• Describe what the infant is looking at and provide additional information. Example: “You are looking at the baby. The baby has a sad face. The baby is crying! ‘Boo-hoo,’ cries the baby! I wonder why the baby is crying. Look at the little boy. What do you think is going to happen next?”
• Describe and respond to the infant’s gestures or vocalizations, especially those related to sounds depicted in the book. Examples: “You are pointing to the doggy. You said ‘woof!’ You know that dogs say ‘woof.’ ‘Woof, woof,’ says the dog!”
• Help the infant connect book information to his/her experiences and developing knowledge. Example: “The little boy is listening to his grandfather’s watch. See the watch? ‘Tick-tock, tick-tock’ goes the watch. Look! I have a watch too! Let’s listen close. Can you hear it?”
• Follow the infant’s cues as to how quickly or slowly to turn the pages. Some infants may turn pages forward and backward, and others may want to return to a favorite page several times.
• Conclude the session by recognizing the infant’s participation, including sounds made and efforts to manage the book. Example: “You helped me hold our book, Adalyn. You pointed to the little boy in the yellow raincoat. You said ‘woof’ when you looked at the picture of the dog. You turned the pages to see what was next. We had fun reading this book together!”