Into the Mouths of Babes

A preliteracy program encourages kids to explore books with all of their senses

By Renea Arnold and Nell Colburn -- School Library Journal, 4/1/2004

So how do you do a baby storytime in a child-care center?" we were asked by a colleague recently. "How do you manage with so few laps?"

Baby storytimes do look a bit different from those at the library. There may not be a lap for every child, but there's just as much fun and excitement.

Multnomah County Library's "Create a Reader Early" (CARE) program, funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, has been training volunteers to present storytimes at child-care centers since March 2002. Volunteers now share storytimes with roomfuls of eager preschoolers at more than 20 child-care centers each month. We start with infants and toddlers, since studies by the National Research Council and others have shown that children need to be introduced to books from birth if they are to start kindergarten prepared to learn to read.

"The babies see me coming with my big blue CARE bag, and they get so excited," says volunteer Ericka Stork, who works with babies ages six months to one and a half years. "Now that little Josh is trying out some words, he runs right up to me shouting 'ook! ook! ook!' He knows the bag is full of books that he'll enjoy."

Ericka starts her storytimes with a book, while other volunteers open their sessions with a favorite hello song, followed by a name song ("Mackenzie has a blue shirt on, blue shirt on, blue shirt on. Mackenzie has a blue shirt on. I see her here today!"). Most of the babies sit on the floor; several share caregivers' laps. There are no more than eight babies in each room.

The key to any good storytime is flexibility, and baby storytime is no different. Volunteers are taught a suggested structure for their storytimes, but we encourage them to adapt their plans to the needs of the children on that particular day. So storytimes vary greatly.

The hello song may be followed by three or four rhymes and/or songs, each repeated twice. Babies delight in repetition, and it's developmentally appropriate, so we also suggest that volunteers include at least one rhyme/song from a previous visit. These may be followed by one or two age-appropriate books, such as Peek-a-Boo, You! (Scholastic, 2002) by Roberta Grobel Intrater, and three or four more rhymes and/or songs sung twice. Then it's time for book sharing. Each baby is given a board book to handle. The volunteer moves around the room, talking to each child about his or her book, and encouraging caregivers to follow her lead. Storytime concludes with a quiet song or lullaby or perhaps another book, followed by a standard good-bye song.

Volunteers often spend 45 minutes in a baby room. If all the babies are awake, it takes a while to sing each name song, and talk with every child during book-sharing time. If some babies are cranky, though, storytime might include just one book and a song. Sometimes the babies will sit for one book after another. Sometimes they just want to sing.

We always try to include the book-sharing time. Babies love to handle books, and this is our chance to model good book-sharing behavior for their caregivers. We train the volunteers to talk with the babies about the pictures, relating them to their world ("Look! Bear's shirt is green, just like your shirt!") We encourage volunteers to use words like read, cover, title, author, pages, words, and picture. We want the babies to know that we think books are special, and we praise their interest in books. We encourage them to explore with all their senses. Yes, even their mouths!

CARE volunteers travel with stuffed animals or dolls, using them to demonstrate songs or rhymes. Once the children get to know the volunteers, they often climb onto their knees for a bouncing rhyme. Caregivers are encouraged to gently bounce babies in turn or give them a knee ride as the volunteer chants the rhyme. Instead of memorizing rhymes and songs, volunteers hang large printed copies on their flannelboard or in an appropriate place in the baby room. Copies are left with caregivers to help them build their own repertoires of rhymes and songs.

CARE volunteers recommend the following books for inspiration, practical ideas, and great rhymes and songs: Babies in the Library! (Scarecrow, 2003) by Jane Marino, Story Stretchers for Infants, Toddlers, and Twos (Gryphon House, 2002) by Shirley Raines, Karen Miller, and Leah Curry-Rood, and The Baby's Game Book (Greenwillow, 2000) by Isabel Wilner.