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: “Look! Do you see the little boy? The little boy is peeking out! Our book is about all the things the little boy sees when he wakes up in the morning. I wonder what the little boy is going to see first.”

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

• Point to and name pictured objects. Encourage the infant to look at the objects you point to and describe. Example: “The little boy is eating cereal. Here is the bowl for his cereal. This is the boy’s spoon. Look. The little boy is using his spoon to feed his puppy! What else do you see?”
• Be sure to talk about pictures that seem to be of particular interest to the infant. You may wish to provide additional context or information. Example: “You are looking at the little boy’s toy train. His toy train is blue. Look at how the boy is using a string to pull his train. Where do you think he wants to take his train?”
• Describe and respond to gestures or vocalizations. Example: “You said ‘boo!’ The little boy’s friend is covering his eyes. I think she is playing Peekaboo with him! Let’s turn the page and see what is next!”
• Help the infant connect book information to his/her experiences and developing knowledge. Example: “The little boy is smiling. He is playing with his daddy. You play with your daddy! What do you like to play with your daddy?”
• Use your voice to add interest and enjoyment to the book reading. Infants may enjoy some anticipation as you say “Peekaboo! I see….” Turn the page with enthusiasm to reveal what the little boy sees.
• Follow the infant’s cues about the pace of book reading. Turn the pages as slowly or as quickly as the infant seems to prefer. Watch for an infant’s signal to stop the book reading.
• Recognize the infant’s participation in the book reading. Example: “We had fun reading this book together, Gabrielle. You looked at the pictures of the little boy and his family. You touched the picture of the puppy! You smiled at the picture of the little boy with his friend. 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. A standing infant may want to use one hand to help 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.

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? The little boy is peeking out at us! Our book is about this little boy and all the things he sees in the morning! Would you like to help me turn the page to read the book?” 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 label objects in the pictures. Example: “This is the little boy. He is looking at his grandma! His grandma is wearing a hat. She is holding a green frog!”
• Invite the infant to point to objects that you label. Example: “The little boy sees a bunny! Peekaboo bunny! Where is the bunny in our picture?”
• Describe what the infant is looking at and provide additional context or information. Example: “You are looking at the little boy giving his grandpa a kiss. His grandpa is smiling. I think the little boy loves his grandpa!”
• Describe and respond to gestures or vocalizations. Examples: “You said ‘woof.’ Dogs and puppies say ‘woof!’ The little boy is feeding his puppy!”
• Help the infant connect book information to his/her experiences and developing knowledge. Example: “The little boy wakes up and sees his mommy. Then the little boy sees his daddy. Who do you see when you wake up in the morning?”
• Show enjoyment and enthusiasm as you read the text. Emphasize ‘peekaboo!’ throughout the book. Some infants may repeat a version of the word ‘peekaboo’ with you.
• Follow the infant’s cues as to how quickly or slowly to look at and talk about illustrations. Some infants may turn pages forward and backward, and others may want to return to a favorite page several times.
• Recognize the infant’s participation in the book reading. Example: “You helped hold our book, Cameron. You pointed to the little boy’s puppy. You said ‘woof!’ You turned the pages to see what was next! We had fun reading this book together.”