Silly Sounds are Perfect for Your One-Year-Old

It is an exciting time when your growing baby starts communicating more intentionally around his first birthday. He may know how to shake his head no, respond to questions by pointing, and even saying a few easy words. At 12 months your child is becoming much more social and she can interact with others by imitating noises and learning new words.

Children at this age enjoy books with rhyming text and silly sounds. As you read aloud, repeat the rhymes or noises and see if your child says them along with you. Ask questions about the book. When you see a picture of a cow ask, “What does the cow say?” You can also pause before saying the last word on each page and see if your child fills in with a sound or word.

Here are some books with text just right for your one-year old. They all come in a sturdy board book format so there are no paper pages to rip or crumple and your baby can even teethe on them without too much damage. See which books your child likes best.

“Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?” by Dr. Seuss. The board book version of the original is an abbreviated story still filled with buzzing, banging, and mooing sounds and asks the child to make the sound on each page. When your child gets older, you can graduate to the longer version of the book.

“Flip, Flap, Fly!” by Phyllis Root, illustrated by David Walker. A baby bird leaves his nest and sees many other animals on his first adventure in flying. He sees a baby snake that ziggle, zaggle, wiggles, and a baby otter that sloop, slop, slides, along with many other baby animals with fun-loving words to say on each page.

“Itsy, Bitsy Spider,” a Child’s Play book illustrated by Annie Kubler. There are many books that retell traditional nursery rhymes, but the Child’s Play series are all board books that include motions to do while reading and joyful illustrations of smiling children. They lend themselves to snuggling and giggling with your baby.

“Moo, Moo, Brown Cow! Have You Any Milk?” by Phillis Gershator, illustrated by Giselle Potter. This story is based on the cadence of the traditional nursery rhyme, “Baa, Baa Black Sheep” but has many new verses that fit together to make a farmyard frolic. Your baby will love the rhythm and rhyme. You can try to just read this book aloud, but you may end up singing it!

“I Went Walking” by Sue Williams, illustrated by Julie Vivas. Each page starts with “I went walking,” with an illustration of child. And then asks, “What did you see?” We see a girl discovering animals, one by one, on her walk. When you read this book with your child, make the noises of each animal as they appear in the story and soon your child will be making the animal noises with you.

 

Imagine What Is in a Book!

Picture books help children expand their imagination. Reading stories about how other people think, what they do, and places that are different than their own, help children learn new vocabulary and think more creatively. It helps them be better problem solvers! Any book can be an adventure for a child when you talk about it as you tell the story. Ask your child questions, suggest some different endings to the book, and talk about new ideas. See if some of the following get your child’s creative juices flowing.

“Now What Can I Do?” by Margaret Park Bridges, pictures by Melissa Sweet. A raccoon child wonders what he can do now that it’s raining outside. Every parent knows that complaint! His mom sees all the chores to do inside and helps her son see how fun it can be to make everything into a game. Making his bed is much more fun if he pretends his bed is a boat. Putting toys away becomes herding cattle. Putting socks in a drawer is like making a slam dunk in a basketball game. Brushing teeth can be pretending to be a singer. After reading this book, you and your child can think of even more fun you could have around the house using just a little imagination.

“Magic Box” by Katie Cleminson. When a girl pretends she is a master magician, she makes animals appear and disappear in great abundance. Animals can float and play music too! Illustrations are ink outlines with blues and reds splattered into the background. With a wave of her magic wand, everything vanishes… except one thing… Read the book to find out what is left!

“Red Wagon” by Renata Liwska. Lucy has a new, bright red wagon and is ready to play, but her mother wants Lucy to use the wagon for chores. Instead of pouting, Lucy does her chores with her wagon and her trip to the market becomes a high-seas adventure, a ride through outer space, and a day at the circus.

 “Do Cowboys Ride Bikes?” by Kathy Tucker, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott. A question on each page and then a rhyming answer tell about cowboy life, from what they eat and say, to what they do at night. This book is a great conversation starter. Is cowboy life easy or hard, fun or just a job? After this book you can read, “Do Pirates Take Baths?” by the same author/illustrator team.

“Mouse Mess” by Linnea Riley. What would your life be like if you were a mouse? This rhyming story has illustrations with big bold shapes and colors for young children. Mouse has fun after the humans go to bed, raking the spilled corn flakes, nibbling food, making a castle with brown sugar, taking tops off of jars–what a mess! After his night of adventure he takes a bath and goes to bed. Will the humans know that he has been there?