Board Books Abound

The Urbana Free Library has a large board book section - just perfect for babies and toddlers. These sturdy books encourage our youngest patrons to explore books. Many have "touch and feel" pages and lift the flaps, and all have bright colorful pages to attract the youngest eyes. Fiona Watts' "That's Not My" board book series is a great example of bright colors, sturdy/thick pages, and a variety of touch and feel textures.

Karen Katz has a plethora of boad books here at our Library. Her board books feature adorable babies and big lift the flap pages. Some of her board books are: "Peek-A-Baby", "Baby's Numbers", "Princess Baby", "Counting Kisses", "Where Is Baby's Mommy", and and "Mommy Hugs".

Located by the board books in the Children's Department is our play area which includes blocks, toy animals, puppets, play food, trucks, and our playhouse. So, come inside from the cold with your little one and enjoy some great board books and our fun play area.                Janet R.



Early Literacy

Champaign-Urbana had a special visitor last week, Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, who spoke about the importance of early literacy in his talk, "Books Build Better Brains: Wanderings at the Intersection of Children's Literature and Early Brain Development" for the Gryphon Lecture series at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science.  Dr. Navsaria is a rare doctor who studied both pediatrics and children's literature at The University of Illinois while obtaining his M.D. and later, M.S. in Library and Information Science.   He shared a fabulous hand-out on the Developmental Milestones of Early Literacy from Reach Out and Read, documenting not only the cognitive milestones in early literacy, but the motor milestones in early literacy as well.  Most importantly, it gives practical suggestions for parents and caregivers to support early literacy.  -Elaine B.

Claire Freedman's Board Books

Claire Freedman's board books are bigger than usual and wonderful for parent/child sharing time. A Cuddle for Little Duck has a bouncy, rhyming text just right for toddlers to enjoy. The pastel pictures complement the text which expresses the loving relationship between parent and child.Lively rhymes describe the young duck disovering the wonders around her.
You're My Little Bunny is a similar type book with little bunny exploring his day along with his mother. Both of these books are great as a transition to easy picture books due to their toddler friendly, rhyming text which is longer than board books aimed at babies. So, come to the Urbana Free Library for these (and other) quality board books for you and your toddler to enjoy together. Janet