What About Board Books?

This year, the West Windsor Branch was provided with a set of these wonderful, squiggly shelves for our board book collection, thanks to the generosity of the Friends of the West Windsor Library. The books in our board book collection circulate a lot. We can barely keep them on the shelves half the time! It only felt fitting to highlight them while also making the collection more accessible for smaller children. Board books are quickly becoming a library staple. According to Gail Cornwall at the School Library Journal, sales have been skyrocketing since 2010, and board books are “a solid hit with tots and sturdy sellers in the publishing industry” (Cornwall, 2023). Over 630 original board books were published in 2022 by just Penguin and their subsidiaries alone (Cornwall, 2023)! Now, that’s a lot of cardboard! 

But what makes board books so popular? Board books are a reliable, fun, and colorful way for early readers to be introduced to the realm of books! Many board books incorporate repetition, rhythm, and association through simplistic storytelling. Some even have sensory components such as felt or fur when the subject is materials or animals. The thickness of the pages also helps with basic motor skills. Due to the nature of the book itself, babies learn how to hold a book and turn its pages. Through interactive learning and basic repetition, “babies learn these basics not just be seeing, but by getting their hands on books and mimicking their grown-ups” (Cornwall, 2023). Overall, board books are a great way for parents and caregivers to bond with their infants and early toddlers. If you are looking for a fun activity with a baby in your life, check out the following new and recommended reads! 

Run, Run, Run! (2024) by Taro Gomi

A board book about a boy in a race who runs past the finish line, through neighborhoods and fields because he loves to run.  

 

The Little Things (2024) by Emma Dodd

In simple, rhyming text, a panda cub learns that sometimes the simplest things are the ones that mean the most. 

 

 

Maisy Loves Bees: Explore and Learn! (2024) by Lucy Cousins

In this exciting launch of Maisy’s Planet series, everyone’s favorite mouse learns all about the bees in her garden—and why they’re so important to our natural world. Did you know that bees use their tongues to eat sweet nectar from flowers, then carry dusty pollen on their bodies to spread it from flower to flower? Or that they need lots of flowers, water, and a dry place to live? Through Lucy Cousin’s familiar, bold, inviting artwork and cheery narration, the youngest children can join Maisy as she learns about bees!

Fuzzy, Fuzzy, Fuzzy!: A Touch, Skritch, and Tickle Book (2024 2003) by Sandra Boynton

Introduces different textures, including a cow’s fuzzy nose, a puppy’s rough paws, and a duck’s soft tummy. On board pages.

 

Mixed-up Farm Animals: A Mix-and-Match Board Book (2024) by Spencer Wilson

This split page book is perfect for young children. They will love to mix and match the farm animals to make their own favorite creature: will it have the head of a cow and the body of a duck, or the head of a pig and the body of a horse?

 

 

 

Works Cited

Cornwall, G. (2023, October 13). Solid Stories: Why board books are key developmental tools. School Library Journal. Retrieved July 8, 2024, from https://www.slj.com/story/Solid-Stories-Why-Board-Books-Are-Key-Developmental-Tools

—by Brielle Papaccio, Youth Services Librarian, West Windsor Branch