Babies Need Books: Sharing the Joy of Books with Children from Birth to Six [Paperback]

Dorothy Butler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0435081446 | ISBN-13: 978-0435081447

This is an invaluable resource for parents, teachers, and librarians--indeed, for any adult eager to share with small children the pleasure books offer. Butler provides important guidelines for choosing appropriate books and recommends hundreds of titles.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dorothy Butler is a teacher, bookseller, author, and children's literature advocate known and respected throughout the world. She lives in New Zealand, where she enjoys reading as often as she can with her twenty-one grandchildren.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann (February 6, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0435081446
• ISBN-13: 978-0435081447
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,013,960 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Books are essential to children's conceptual development., September 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Babies Need Books: Sharing the Joy of Books with Children from Birth to Six (Paperback)

Details the central role that words (concepts) have in the development of a capable child; Advocates reading to children from their earliest moments to make reading and thinking in words a core mental skill. Contains numerous recommendations of specific books, giving reasons, and concentrating on the features that will develop critical thinking skills, not political correctness.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Babies need OLD, classic, Living books., October 14, 2005

By 

APmama26 (CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Babies Need Books: Sharing the Joy of Books with Children from Birth to Six (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book for many reasons. First, like other wonderful resources of its kind such as "Honey for a Child'd Heart" and "Books Children Love" it talks about the importance and the joy of sharing books with your children, with a special emphasis on the 5 and under set. It inspires and motivates you to spend time sharing books with your small children, something many people might not think is important at all, or at least not until they're old enough to talk or understand the story. But as this book explains, the earlier children are exposed to great literature, the better.

And that is the key - "great literature" - and what makes this book so special. So much of what is being written now-a-days is "Twaddle" and not worth reading to our children. A very large percentage of the thousands of books we've bought for our family's homeschool collection over the years has been older books - usually the older the better. In fact, the copywright date is the first thing I look at when trying to decide if a book is worth buying for my kids. We do have newer books, too, but the older ones are usually our favorites.

Most of the books listed in this guide are what Charlotte Mason calls "Living Books" - stuff to feed the minds, imaginations, and souls of our children. Yes, they may be harder to find, even at the library because sadly, libraries are getting rid of more and more of the good stuff to make room for the highly marketed garbage being passed off as children's literature today. But you can still find some of them through Amazon's used booksellers and other places and they're well worth getting whenever you can. But you have to know WHAT to buy and since they're not widely available this book helps by giving you titles and descriptions to go by.

It was because of some of these "hard to find, older books" that I found THIS book in fact. I stumbled across a book called "Dogger" in a closeout bookstore for $3.00 and as soon as I read it I knew I had found a real treasure. I went back to buy more for gifts but they were sold out so, of course I checked Amazon. I found out that it was out of print and then discovered that the author, Shirley Hughes, had written many, many similar books but that they were mostly out of print, too. I bought a few from Amazon and we found each one to be more delightful than the next, though "Dogger" is still our favorite. So I started searching for any book by Shirley Hughes I could find and I came across this book, because it was illustrated by Shirley Hughes. Being a book-a-holic, especilally on the topic of anything to do with homeschooling, I had to buy it and I found it to be an incredible gem, just like the children's books that led me to it. It inspires and motivates you with why you should read to your baby and how much you'll BOTH enjoy it and describes what makes a good book at each age level and is full of suggestions of wonderful books to look for. It's done in a conversational tone, like a grandmother or old friend and full of anecdotes of real babies and their family members and their experiances with books that make you think "I want that experience for MY baby, too."

Wonderful book - get it while you can before IT'S replaced by more Twaddle!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Guide that Won't Overwhelm You! Her Selections Work, January 20, 2004

By 

K. Gormly (Jericho, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Babies Need Books: Sharing the Joy of Books with Children from Birth to Six (Paperback)

Reading "Babies Need Books" is almost like having a conversation with a sage older neighbor or friend. Unlike tomes that list 20 billion books for each age group, this guide
pares down the selections for the 0-6s into brief and chatty chapters that get you excited about reading. It's nice to read a guide that's personal, filled with annecdotes and opinions. But best of all, her picks work! Without fail, every book I've read that Butler reccomends has been a hit with my child.

While it is true that many of the books are on the older side (it would be wonderful if there was a new edition), I have to say, I kind of like that fact that some of the books are off the beaten path. I could find most of them at Amazon or in the library, and their sometimes retro illustrations and antiquated language make them all the more interesting. I think it's good for kids to see different visual styles as well as to hear different types of language use.

Butler is also not afraid to give opinions on what not to read (see her comments on Richard Scary and "educational" books). For these reasons, and others, I give "Babies Need Books" an enthusiastic 5 stars!