To not want to read really shit books to my baby?

[CooCooCaChu]

I've got an eight month old baby. We've got lots of really basic baby books. You know the kind, red circle on one page, blue triangle on the next. Or the endless 'that's not my ...'.

I find it incredibly boring to keep going 'oh look, this is a cow. Moooo.'

If I don't read these basic books, will she miss out on something important developmentally? Or can I skip straight to things with more of a narrative so I don't feel the need to stab myself in the eye just to create a bit of excitement?

Yabu you need to spend hours reading 'here is a car, brum brum'
Yanbu read something more fun, your baby will probably enjoy it more anyway

@Needmorelego @MargotBamborough I love it too. It’s the book 4yo DD most wants to read to her new baby (technically my baby!): “Once there was a little boy. His name was Peepo. One two three. Look, he doesn’t have a blackout blind Mummy. What’s a bucketful of coal?”

Aged 8 months, read them whatever you like. Something with rhythm, surprises or actions will generally get their interest, but they just like hearing your voice. Something longer like Each Peach Pear Plum will be better because it will last longer. Board books and rag books are good for them to get used to turning pages, but you don’t need to read those out loud.

Aged 2-4, they are going to like “where’s Mr Dog?” etc, and will insist on you reading them again and again. Luckily by that age, your toddler’s excited little face will be cute enough to make it worthwhile.

@bussteward The Babies Catalogue is another favourite of mine.
Even has a Stay At Home Dad - which was unusual for the early 80s when it was published.

We changed that to “the supermarket delivery”. It was the milkman that threw DS

Undervalue = under estimate/ over-value.

Back to the baby books for me.

@Needmorelego Yes! My favourite page is “accidents”

Like other posters we had loads of the touchy feely “that’s not my” type books but they were mainly for dd to touch/try to eat - I didn’t read them to her as such just gave her one to feel the different textures.

for actual stories we loved (and still love) any Julia Donaldson, the Alfie books (pictures are dated but Alfie’s toddler like understanding of the world and toddler issues (lost toy, falling out with friends etc) are just so well done), each peach pear plum (can recite this one from memory) 10 little monsters/princesses/trucks, giraffes can’t dance, llama llama red pyjama, we’re going on a bear hunt, where the wild things are for a few

also loved “go the fuck to sleep” but only when she was very pre verbal - 8 months may be to late!

Love it!

I also love the fact that they all pitch in and it isn't just mummy doing chores while daddy sits on his bum.

@bussteward oh yes "accidents" 😂. The whole book is just awesome.
The Ahlberg's created the book when they realised their daughter was just as happy "reading" things like the Argos catalogue.

😂

I’m with you OP, but there are loads of amazing books that will still work! For example I adore reading Goodnight Tractor (the pictures make me feel all warm and cosy and almost nostalgic), and my kids point out the animals and make animal noises and get the benefits of the repetition; whereas so many similar-ish books about farms are just rubbish and don’t rhyme or scan properly, and I avoid those! Millions of examples, definitely read what you enjoy, we always have and my 6 year old is flying with reading now and reads all sorts.

the gruffalo/ gruffalos child and all the other Julia Donaldson books are good because they are rhymes so their a lot more interesting to read and baby will listen to you. Also there’s a great book called hippobottymus that mines loved and it’s a fun one to read, my kid ripped it to shreds one day and I’m still upset as it was great lol

Julia Donaldson is awful! Half her stuff doesn’t even rhyme, I’m amazed by the love she’s getting on this thread. I still have PTSD flashbacks from someone giving Stick Man to DD before I strategically hid it.

your child will pick up on your feelings towards reading. Read what you want within reason. My boys love hearing poetry.

Peepo at least has a story even if I didn't like it.

The sort of book Op and I are both talking about are the books with ☎️ 'phone' next to it. ⚽️ ball 🚗 car 🐄 cow.
I had one full of ancient tech that I ditched I also found it an incredibly dull book to read. I'm sure my kids learn what every day objects were by seeing 👀 them in the flesh rather than a picture in a book.

Your toddler sits for reading books? 😂 I managed to keep mines attention all for 3 seconds usually 😂😂

Well, reading them whatever you want at 8 months might be fine when they’re still a captive audience but when they get a little bit older 12-18 months, you’ll probably find they don’t want to sit on your knee whilst you recite books that you like. In my own personal experience, they want colour, stimulation, sounds, sensory experiences and my very alert and quick little one will not sit through anything with lots of words but nothing to touch or feel. They’re all different but I’ll wager you find the same as they develop.

So true! And really it’s not about what the OP finds fun or not, those books have a place in learning, as you say.

What about some good kids ones, like the secret garden or Tom sawyer?

I think baby's just like people talking hearing voices.
I have recollections of parking mine in front of the TV News so I could eat my dinner in peace.

I don't yet have children so not able to offer any advice as such but I have fond memories of my mum reading to me every night - she had a voice for every character, so I'd say part of it is how you're reading too - lots of expression is probably worth a lot

I recently brought someone a gift for their 2 year old as she'd recently had a new baby and I didn't want the 2 year old to feel left out so I got her a board type book about where is the gruffalo - it had different gruffalo characters behind each of the felt lift the flaps - may be a nice one as baby can feel the different material and in time recognise the characters?

When asking my mum for suggestions for what to get as the gift she said (number??) Zoo lane is good - again not sure if at baby's age

Again I don't have children so no expert, but the gruffalo book looked like it could offer various modes of interaction at different stages, not too hideous to read etc.

Could you mix it up a bit, so one night do one of the baby books then the other a book that's a bit more interesting, but nicely illustrated for them to look at the pictures?

I also remember funny bones

On a dark dark night...

Everything was dark dark, I'm not sure my mum was a fan 😂

Love that bit in a Call The Midwife episode where we see Dr Turner reading The Lancet to the baby (can't remember if baby was Alison or Teddy) and the baby seemed enraptured.

We would all probably agree that the repetition can be tedious. However your baby will not be a baby for long and s/he can learn a lot from hearing the stories many times. I think it’s only a tiny thing to do, to read the stories. As your baby gets older, you will hopefully start to enjoy the routine snuggles and bonding over the stories.

They are mostly going to learn from you about books from your attitude and enjoyment of them. If you can’t get enthusiastic about the board books then by all means have them around for DC to explore themselves but use the ones you like to share that enjoyment with them.