Chorevia

Day 201 of 300 · Week 27

Reading and pointing

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 7 sources · Plain-text version

Five to ten minutes a day with a board book, a finger on the picture, and a name for it. Why the AAP recommends shared reading from birth, and why the same book is fine.

A Latino father on a living-room rug in soft morning light, his twenty-seven-week-old propped between his legs, a board book open on the baby's lap and the baby's hand flat on a picture of a dog.

Yesterday was a letter. Today is a book, the kind with thick pages and one big picture per spread, and the smallest routine in this series: five minutes, a finger, a word.

Heart

Your baby doesn't need to understand a story to get something from a book. The AAP recommends shared reading from birth, a policy grounded in research with young children (Klass et al., 2024), and CDC's advice for this age is plainer still: "read" colorful pictures every day and talk about them (CDC). At this age reading is pointing and naming. You put a finger on the dog, you say "dog," your baby looks where you're looking. That's the whole lesson, and it's a good one.

Head

What makes it work is the back-and-forth. When your baby babbles or pats the page and you answer with eye contact and words, that serve and return helps build connections in the brain (Harvard Center on the Developing Child). Name what your baby looks at, not what you planned to read (CDC). From about 6 or 7 months, babies get much better at imitating the sounds you make (AAP), so when a "ba" comes out over the picture of a ball, say it back and give them the word: "Ba! Ball."

Body

Expect the book to be handled more than read. Around now, babies put things in their mouth to explore them (CDC), and between 6 and 8 months they learn to pass objects from hand to hand and to turn and twist them (AAP). A board book is a toy that happens to have pictures. Let them pat it, hold it, gum the corner, and flip it over; the sturdiest book you own is the right one.

Try today

  1. The father's finger on a bright picture of a ball while the baby, sitting between his legs with hands on the book, looks where he points and opens their mouth to babble.

    Read and point

    Time: 5 to 10 minutes a day · Read and point in the guide

    1. Sit your baby between your legs on the floor, or on your lap, with a sturdy board book that has big, clear pictures.

    2. Put your finger on one picture and name it: "Dog." Pause.

    3. Follow their eyes. Whatever they look at, that's the next word (CDC).

    4. Let them pat, hold, and mouth the book; a bent corner is part of reading.

    5. When they babble, answer with a word: "Yes, that's the doggy!"

    Make it work:

    Stop when they turn away or arch. Two pages read with attention beat ten pages read at a wriggling baby.

Watch for

  • Normal

    a baby who chews the corner of the book more than they look at it; mouthing is how they explore right now (CDC).

    Talk with your pediatrician

    if your baby doesn't babble or imitate any sounds by 7 months, which can signal a hearing problem (AAP).

  • Normal

    turning away after two pages, then grabbing for the book again a minute later.

    Call 911

    if your baby is struggling for each breath, has stopped breathing, or has bluish lips or face (AAP).

  • Normal

    wanting the same page over and over, every day this week.

    Call your pediatrician right away

    if your baby has a fever higher than 104°F (40°C) (AAP).

For you

The father on a low library chair with the baby on his lap, a short stack of board books on the carpet beside them, the mother in the children's section pulling one more off a shelf.

The same book is fine. The point of reading at this age is the pointing and the naming and the answer to the babble (CDC), and a book you know by heart lets you look at your baby instead of the page. If you're bored of it, that's a sign it's working for them, not a sign you need to buy another.

When you do want another, the library is free. The AAP's reading policy is built on getting books into families' hands (Klass et al., 2024), and a children's librarian will happily hand you three board books and a chair.

If you're the partner: take one of the five minutes today. Your finger, your voice, your word for the dog.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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