Hello Everyone! My husband and I are avid readers and bookworms (understatement of the year). My undergraduate degree is in literature with my post-graduate studies being in curriculum development (mainly literacy), and my husband writes novels alongside his main job as a video game developer.
Therefore, it was only natural, and super exciting, for us to introduce the gift of reading to our little one. We've been having so much fun buying and checking out books for her from the library. We think she enjoys it too because we tend to read books with vivid colors, and they also usually have flaps and are pop up, which is super exciting for kids under three year's old.
Since I speak to my daughter in English, and my husband speaks to her in Japanese, we read both English and Japanese books to her. I am also studying Japanese, so I'll read to her in Japanese as well, but my rhythm and stress isn't the best (especially for kids way of speaking), so my husband will also read to her so she can hear natural Japanese.
I'd like to share her reading list each month, and definitely review and recommend really awesome baby books! So far, these are her favorites!
Darumasan Series
My job actually gifted me two out of three of the Darumasan books before my maternity leave, and this series is so cute! If you don't know, a Daruma is a Japanese traditional doll that is modeled after the founder of Zen Bhuddism. It's usually small, round, red, and is a symbol of luck and perseverance. The main character of the Darumasan series is Darumasan, and each book is focused on a different part of Japanese grammar. There is Darumasan to (Daruma and...), Darumasan no (Darumasan's...), and Darumasan ga (Darumasan (action).
In Darumasan to, "to" is the particle that basically means "and", so we see Darumasan and his friends Banana, Melon, and Strawberry. In Darumasan no, "no" is the Japanese particle that basically indicates possession. Therefore, we are introduced to Darumasan's hair and Darumasan's hand, etc. In Darumasan ga, you can see Darumasan perform actions, such as Darumasan falls over, Darumasan smiles. The pictures are super cute and the words super simple! Definitely fun, and maybe when she gets older, the books will become more interactive as well where she can mimic what I read.
Akachan Asobo Series
Iro Iro Doa
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Iro Iro Doa is a really cute pop-up book about colors. The title means "Various Doors". The word for "various" is "iro iro", but the word for color is "iro", so the title kind of has two meanings. Each page has a colored door that has an animal of that color hiding behind it. my daughter really loves it, as the pop-ups are really big! It's cute and educational.
Hako
Hako is another cute book about various kinds of boxes, such as toy box, lunch box, tool box. Each boxes items come out, and it's fun to name each item! Another fun aspect of this box is the call and response form of the book. The box asks the items to come out one by one, and they all say "Ha~i!", which means, "Yes or Here!", so in theory, your child can play along too! "Crayon?" "Here!!", "Hammer?" "Here!".
ENGLISH BOOKS
Little Scholastics Alphabet
We honestly don't have any English books for her at the moment. They are usually very expensive here in Japan, so I only want to buy the best ones, but the one I'm going to share is a book that was given to me as a gift. There's about three or four more books in the series, but what I like is the interactive quality. Each page has a different texture, and my daughter loves touching things! So, she loves it when I take her hand to rub the page. I am definitely going to see if I can find the rest of the series.
Baby, Let's Count
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Baby Counts belongs to a the Indestructible Series. These books are unique because they can be chewed on, washed, and they are "rip proof"! So, of course, this book is my daughter's absolute favorite as of right now! There's a bunch more in the series, and I'll definitely be buying one or two more! So far, the claim that it is rip proof holds true, but I have not tested the washing feature yet!
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