The most prestigious awards for books were awarded this past Monday. I'll list them now and review them at a later date - Caldecott: Medal winner: The Hello Goodbye Window by Norton Juster; Honor winners: Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems by Joyce Sidman; Hot Air: The Mostly True Story of the 1st Hot Air Balloon Ride by Marjorie Priceman and illustrated by Beckie Prange; Rosa by Nikki Giovanni and illustrated by Bryan Collier; Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth; Newbery: Medal winner: Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins; Honor winners: Whittington by Alan W. Armstrong and illustrated by S. D. Schindler; Hitler Youth - Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Bartoletti; Princess Academy by Shannon Hale; and Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Hudson Talbott.

Babies should be exposed to books right from birth. It has been proven that babies gleam language rhythms and patterns as well as vocal pitch, velocity and strength. There is also validity that eyes become stronger in focus and attention span lengthens with early involvement / introduction to bright, bold pictures. So, what's the down side? There is no down side! Only good comes from early participation with books. In fact, we haven't even touched on the strong bonding of love and the many connections of singing when putting music to text. When the baby gets a little older, there will be a time when you can begin to track the words across the page so that the youngster begins to make a connection between the text and the story. We've just scratched the surface of all that a baby gains from a very early book experience. So, let's begin with some excellent books for newborns and work our way up through the toddler years.

Wee Sing for Baby: A Musical Collection for Play Time and for Sleepy Time , is one of several packaged cd's geared for babies. This particular cd has well known nursery rhymes, songs and familiar childhood favorites for parents to sing along and eventually sing alone to your baby. Some of these songs include: “Pop! Goes the Weasel”, “Pat-a-Cake” and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. There's also a small colorful booklet with words and pictures to go along with this delightful cd. Most songs are less than 1 minute in length and most of the voices heard are children's voices. Other “Wee Sing” packaged cd's include: “Wee Sing in the Car”, "Wee Sing Nursery Rhymes and Lullabies" and "Wee Sing Sing-Alongs" .

Baby Einstein has some of the best books geared for babies. Each of their books is bright, bold and with interesting objects that these youngest readers love. This series, published by Hyperion, always has board books, activity books and learning cards leveled by ages so the buyer knows exactly which book to purchase. One of the newest published books is Baby Galileo Sees the Stars , by Julie Aigner-Clark. This counting board book is geared for 18 months and older and has sparkly stars that are raised up on the page. The last page has a moon that lights up.

One of the best things parents can do with their babies is read nursery rhymes. The rhythm, catchy phrasing, sing-song approach and repeating verses help introduce children to reading. Here are just a couple of the many nursery rhyme books available. I love Mary Englebreit's Mother Goose: One Hundred Best Loved Verses because she has her trademark colorful and delightful illustrations throughout the book. This should be one of your first purchases for your little one! The Helen Oxenbury Nursery Collection not only has nursery rhymes, but some wonderful traditional nursery stories like Little Red Riding Hood and Henny-Penny.

For toddler age children, here are some perfect books to help teach concepts. Wee Sing has a new series called Wee Sing & Learn . These board books are cleverly shaped with a handle built in making it easy for youngsters to carry them around. Each book comes with a cd and the concepts include: Colors, ABC, 123, and Dinosaurs. Scholastic has a book with sturdy pages called First Picture Dictionary . This colorful, yet simple, book teaches the meanings of over 800 words and pictures to illustrate. This book is a keeper! The little Book of Not So , by Charise Mericle Harper, is a smallish sized book with easy to understand comparisons, such as: “dark, not so dark, scary, not so scary” Eric Carle has a new picture book out, 10 Little Rubber Ducks . He has his award-winning illustrations throughout this great counting book and there's a surprise at the end! Children love to lift flaps and I've found a wonderful storybook that they can relate to, with study pages and flaps: No Bed Without Ted , by Nicola Smee, is about a little girl in search for her favorite teddy bear, which she can't sleep without!