Invite an infant to sit on your lap to read a book. Introduce the book by pointing to and describing the picture of the moon. Explain that we can see a moon at nighttime. Our book is about a bunny saying goodnight to many different things. Use the following strategies to share the book with the infant:

• Invite the infant to help you turn the pages. Be flexible about the pace of page turning. The book is longer than some infants may wish to pursue. It is fine to skip pictures.
• Describe what infant seems to be looking at. Point to items that you describe. Example: “This is a picture of the bunny’s room. There are green walls and a red floor. Here are curtains! Can you see the moon peeking out?”
• Spend more time talking about pictures that appear to be of particular interest to the infant. Example: “You are looking at the kittens. Oh my, what are the kittens doing? They are playing with the big bunny’s yarn. The kittens are having fun.”
• Acknowledge gestures and/or vocalizations. Example: “You are touching the picture of the cow. You are smiling! This is a silly picture. The cow is jumping over the moon!”
• Help infant connect book information to his/her own experiences. Example: “Here is the bunny’s bed. Do you sleep in a bed like the bunny?”
• Use your voice to add interest to the book reading. Emphasize the word goodnight.
• Recognize the infant’s participation in the book sharing. Example: “We had fun reading this book together, Trinity. You helped turn the pages. You looked at the pictures of the bunny’s room. You touched the picture of the cow. You smiled when I said goodnight to all the things in the bunny’s room.”

Invite an infant to read a book with you. The infant may wish to sit next to you or stand close while you read. Invite the infant to hold the book and turn the pages. You may wish to keep all 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. Follow the infant’s preference for how quickly or slowly to turn the pages. The book has more pictures than the infant may wish to look at. It is fine to skip pages.

Once the infant is comfortable and ready to read, point to and describe the picture on the book cover. Example: “Look, do you see the moon in the window? The sky is dark and the moon is out. Our book is about going to bed and saying goodnight! A bunny says goodnight to many things in our book.” Use the following strategies to share the book:

• Point to and label objects in the pictures. Example: “This is a comb. This is a brush. This is called a bowl full of mush. Mush is like cereal. Do you see the spoon?”
• Invite the infant to point to items that you name. Example: “The kittens are playing! Where are the kittens in this picture?”
• Spend more time on pictures that appear to be of particular interest to the infant.
• Example: “The bunny is in his bed. The bunny has a green blanket. It is nighttime. The bunny is going to go night night in his bed. Goodnight, bunny!”
• Acknowledge gestures and/or vocalizations. Example: “You said ‘night night!’ Yes, it is time to go night night. Goodnight kittens! Goodnight mittens!”
• Help the infant connect book information to his/her experiences. Example: “This is a picture of the room where bunny sleeps. We see a bed and books and toys. Do you have books and toys where you live?”
• Emphasize the word goodnight and encourage the infant to say the word, or part of the word, with you throughout the book. Example: “Please help me say goodnight to the moon! Goodnight!” Speak slowly.
• Recognize the infant’s participation in the book sharing. Example: “You helped me hold our book, Matthew. You pointed to the red balloon. You said ‘night night’ when you looked at the bunny in his bed. You said goodnight to the moon! We had fun reading this book together.”