Giving Babies A Smart Start

IT’S NEVER TOO SOON to begin reading to your baby. That’s the guiding philosophy behind Begin Smart, a new developmental read-and-play book initiative from New York-based Sterling Publishing that recently debuted. According to publisher Harriet M. Ziefert, the structured program is designed “to encourage the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual growth of babies and toddlers” through parental involvement and lots of touch-and-feel interactive elements.

Each of the books in the series is leveled into one of four age categories created specifically with the developmental needs of that age group in mind. Books for newborn babies through 6 months old offer graphic, high-contrast illustrations to aid babies in focusing, tracking and scanning, and, in some titles, soft pages to encourage touching. For ages 6 to 12 months, the titles offer participatory games through lift-the-flap elements, foam-filled pages that are easy for babies to turn, and age-appropriate toys (like a teether or a button to push). For ages 12 to 18 months, the titles stimulate babies’ language development and the capacity to predict through more advanced lift-the-flap elements plus text and pictures that encourage babies to perform different actions in response. For ages 18 months to 2 years, the various titles introduce a wider vocabulary of language as well as concepts such as early numbers and shapes, encouraging babies to communicate through simple sentences.

There are five titles currently available in each level, with 10 new titles debuting this fall. Each offers parents a list of baby’s skills that the book aims to help develop, while www.beginsmartbooks.com, a new site, gives parents advice from child development experts and tips for ways to read each book, since every title has a variety of ways in which it can be played with between parent and child.

Says Sterling’s Ziefert, “Begin Smart helps [parents] make sense of the disordered array of reading choices they often face in the marketplace. Begin Smart is a gift of learning—not only for children under three, but also for parents.”

For retailers, the program is available in displays that present multiple titles across the different age levels; in addition, there is a promotional DVD that demonstrates ways that families can read to their children. The program will be supported by a national marketing and publicity campaign.