You’ve probably heard how important it is to read to your baby– pediatricians are even participating in initiatives to stress the importance of new parents reading with their little ones. In the newborn days, a baby's color spectrum is still forming and caregivers are almost over advertised the importance of high contrast art cards and black and white books. But by 4 to 6 months, a baby's vision is fully developed, yet caregivers are left in the dark regarding which books are best for babies in their next stage. Well, Montessori style board books are a great resource for little ones. Keep reading to learn why.
What makes a book Montessori?
Montessori style children’s books feature real life experiences, which can include photographs and realistic drawings of everyday life. But, it’s no surprise that the books published during Dr. Montessori's life span looked a bit different than today’s children’s books. Let’s take a look at more current research that addresses this question.
Before becoming a bestselling author with her book Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, Dr. Angeline Lillard conducted a survey in 2011 to identify what Montessori teacher trainers in the U.S. considered to be authentic Montessori materials. Lillard's goal was to uncover if there was general consensus on the materials and to identify which materials are the most debated.
Of the 100 AMI¹ and AMS² trainers surveyed, at least 85% of the trainers highly agreed that realistic books were a necessary material in the classroom. This gives us a basis of what to look for in Montessori books-- realistic images and story lines. But, is there science behind this Montessori philosophy or was it simply Maria Montessori's personal preference?
Why read Montessori style books with babies?
It turns out there is science behind why babies love looking at other babies and why the Montessori method advocates for realistic books! One study by developmental psychologists revealed that when it comes to teaching babies about the real world through books, the type of pictures have a significant impact. In fact, the psychologists found that 15-18-month-olds learn to associate pictures in books with objects in the real world based on iconicity. Iconicity is simply a fancy way of saying how realistic the pictures are.
So, if you're aiming to teach vocabulary or build early literacy skills, cartoon-y images might not be the best fit. Instead, you'll want to go for board books with realistic images, such as photographs or realistic illustrations. The more life-like the pictures, the higher the chances that the information your baby learns from the book will stick with them (Ganea, Pickard, Bloom and DeLoache 2008).
Now that we know there's science to support the use of Montessori style books, let's take a look at some of the best books for babies:
Best Montessori Books for Babies
Global Babies
Baby's Best Friend
Peekaboo Baby
Baby Up Baby Down
Baby Faces
Smile!
Who Says Peekaboo?
Lovevery Books
ABC Kids
All Kinds of People
Publisher | Charlesbridge
Global Babies was the first Montessori style baby book published from a multicultural lens. The vibrant colors within each photograph paired with cheerful baby faces from around the world, captivates the attention of tiny readers! Each photo highlights traditional clothing, daily life, and customs of babies across an impressive 17 countries. Through exposing kids to multicultural media in the early years, caregivers can teach little ones to recognize and honor our differences while also developing an appreciation for the shared values and connections that unite us as humans.
Global Babies is part of the Global Fund for Children board book series. I also highly recommend Carry Me and Global Playtime. The photography is seriously top-notch throughout every book in the series.
Special Note: when you buy any book from the Global Fund for Children, a percentage of each sale goes towards positively impacting children's lives across the world!
Words & Photographs | Suzanne Curley
Publisher | Tiger Tales
Baby’s Best Friend is perfect for dog lovers- especially dog owners. Each page features a baby and a different breed of dog happily frolicking. The photographer, Suzzane Curley, does an unbelievable job capturing the most adorable photos. This short board book is a supportive aid in modeling how kiddos can gently interact with a pet dog, while also preparing them for interactions initiated by the dog.
Words & Pictures | Ellie Boultwood, Hannah Cockayne, Kylie Hamley
Publisher | Priddy Books
As the publishing company behind the megapopular, First 100 Words (which I also recommend), Priddy Books is quite well-known for using real life photographs of babies and everyday objects in their books. The company has sold over 100 million books in over 35 different languages.
Peekaboo Baby features a bunch of babies at play or engaging in daily tasks such as mealtime and bathtime. Although it’s a short board book, there are two concepts that make it stand out from similar books: the use of circle cutouts on each page allows babies to peek and predict what will happen next. Secondly, the Mylar mirror on the final page is a real mirror, not the warped type of mirror disappointingly found at the end of many board books.
Publisher | Abrams Appleseed
You can probably guess what Baby Up Baby Down is about from the title alone– pigs! Just kidding, it’s about opposites.The book uses photos of six different babies to gently introduce young readers to opposites. The “clean vs. messy” depiction is highly relatable amongst this age group based on the many “uh oh” responses I’ve heard from babies. The background throughout the book is all white and all children wear a different colored onesie in a solid color, which makes the pages less distracting and keeps the attention of kiddos. Making Faces is another popular board book from the same publisher, which I can also highly recommend!
Words & Photographs | Margret Miller
Publisher | Simon & Schuster
Similar to Intrater, Margret Miller’s book features close-up photographs of baby faces (hope the title didn’t give too much away)! However, Baby Faces depicts photos of babies making various facial expressions, including yuck, yum, stinky, and a few more. Teaching babies and kids about various forms of emotions and expressions helps build a solid foundation for healthy emotional intelligence later down the line– books are a great tool for this! Baby Faces also won the Book of the Year Award by Parenting Magazine in 1998, which makes it an even more special addition to your little one’s bookshelf.
Words & Photographs | Roberta Grobel Intrater
Publisher | Scholastic
Published way back in 1997, Smile is the oldest book on the list, but it’s a timeless gem in my opinion. The narration is from the point of view of a caregiver trying to get a baby to smile for a photo. (We’re all familiar with that struggle.) There are eleven different babies featured and each photo is a close-up shot focused solely on their facial expressions.
Photographs | Vanja Kraguli
Publisher | Highlights for Children
Designed to be a baby’s first hide-and-seek book, Who Says Peekaboo uses photographs of babies and animals, combined with clip art toys.
Babies are introduced to three animal sounds, including a playful puppy, a musical kitten, and an outdoorsy duck. The high quality Mylar mirror at the end invites you to play your own game of peekaboo with the baby you're caring for.
Lovevery Books
The Lovevery board book collection is the latest addition to the Montessori style category. Their books are very well loved by parents and babies– they even make a few 2 ½ in board books that are a handy distraction during diaper changes. Parents were such fans of Lovevery books that the company used their feedback to roll out more books! The books are full of practical, everyday life experiences in real life photos, which support babies in building a foundation for language development. Plus, their inclusivity is impressive. Co-founder & President, Rod Morris, spoke on the impact of their book collection during a interview:
"Our books give customers their first opportunity to have a children’s book that involves say, a ceremony for a First Nation’s family, or a child with a limb difference. They give an opportunity for families to have a conversation around a family that’s different from theirs, or often we hear back from a family that for the first time, they got to look at a book with their child that is reflective of their family."
The only caveat is that you have to be a Play Kit subscriber in order to buy their books. Their website attributes the exclusivity to the fact that, “the Book Bundles complement the play essentials and existing books in the Play Kits and ship more sustainably by being included in The Play Kits box you’d already receive.”
But, because I’ve found these books to be such a beneficial resource for babies- and so well made- here are a few workarounds without a subscription: Ask a subscribing friend with an older toddler if you can borrow their baby books; check Facebook Marketplace; join the Lovevery Resale Facebook Group.
Words & Photographs | Laura Ellen Williams
ABC Kids continues to be one of my most popular board books amongst babies. This isn’t just your average alphabet book– each page includes a real life photo of a carefree kid depicting the corresponding action or noun. Although published in 2000, Williams was quite ahead of her times in terms of diversity and inclusion. The board book is full of BIPOC kids at play. It’s unlikely that your kiddo will learn ABC’s so early on, but they will genuinely enjoy every photograph.
Something else that makes this book unique is its size (think: vertical postcard). It’s less common to find Montessori style board books this size. ABC Kids fits snuggly into tiny hands allowing little ones to turn the pages with ease.
Words & Photographs | Shelley Rotner & Sheila M. Kelly
All Kinds of People is the younger version of the popular picture book, Shades of People, adapted for baby board book form… but, it doesn’t disappoint! Kids from a large variety of different ethnic backgrounds are pictured on each page. As an adult, you might notice that the photos are a bit outdated, but your baby won’t. One of my favorite things about this Montessori style book, are the beautiful adjectives and phrases the authors use to describe other kid’s skin, such as, creamy, shade of gold, sandy, and cocoa.
Which Montessori style board books am I missing? Please add a comment with other books titles so I can expand on a broader list for caregivers like you!
FAQ Montessori Books
Is Montessori against fantasy books?
According to Dr. Lillard’s findings, Maria Montessori was rather against reading fantasy books to kids under age 6. She believed that fairy tales should be avoided until the elementary years, noting that younger kids typically show little interest in them³. Montessori also argued that when adults read fantasy with kids, there's a high chance it confuses their impressionable minds, which are still developing their grasp on reality⁴. Maria even goes as far as saying that her observations of young children have led her to believe that they don’t resonate with "silly or funny tales and cartoons" in children's books⁵. She stressed the need for illustrators and publishers to create more factual, realistic books.
Citations:
¹AMI: The American Branch of the Association Montessori Internationale, founded by Dr. Montessori to carry on her work
²AMS: Association Montessori Society, founded by Nancy Rambusch to represent Montessori in America
³Montessori, M. (1989). The child, society, and the world: Unpublished speeches and writings, p. 44-6 (Vol. 7). Oxford: Clio.
⁴Montessori, M. (1997). The California lectures of Maria Montessori, pp. 40-5, 1915. Oxford: Clio
⁵Montessori, M. (1989). Creative development in the child II (R. R, Trans.) p. 224. Madras, India: Kalakshetra Press.
