Mama Makes Books: Reading Time

Reading Time is a high-contrast fold-out book that offers babies the opportunity to exercise their body and their brains while enjoying some reading time and bonding time with a loved one.

Like Tummy Time! (BookTrust’s Book Start Pick for 2021), the book opens out and stands up in front of newborns during the all-important tummy time, a practice encouraged by healthcare professionals because it prevents flat spots on the back of a baby’s head, and encourages them to use muscles needed for rolling, sitting and crawling. However, these early months are also when a baby’s brain is developing faster than at any other time in their lives. Reading together is proven to accelerate language and literacy, giving children a head start in life.

The book has bold black-and-white images with splashes of bright colour for a baby’s developing vision. The images are some of the first words children learn to say, such as cat, car, book and teddy, so it serves as a first words book, but it also has a soothing, rhythmical nursery rhyme based on “I see the moon, the moon sees me” which babies will love to hear their loved ones read. And there is mirror at the end to personalise the shared reading experience so the reader inserts their own name as they look in the mirror together.

“I see Mummy. Mummy sees me.
Say, “Night, night, Mummy. Night, night me.”

So go on. Read to your newborn. It’s good for them!

Good for

• Newborn to 9 months

• Perfect for tummy time, nappy changing time and together time

210mm x 140mm closed, 210 x 840mm open, board, 2 sided, 6 leaves, self-closure tab, mirror