Tom's Favorite Books

Tom is really beginning to enjoy books now that he has a little more patience. I could never get him to sit still before. It's like once he started moving, that's all he wanted to do. Now reading books together is an excellent way to get him quieted down for a nap or bed.

I wanted to tell you about Tom's favorite books and what to look for. These books get him to sit down and pay attention. I've divided them into three categories.

Touch & Feel books

Touch & Feel Books

These books all have textural elements on the page for the child to feel. They are so good for bringing concepts to life for a child with vision impairments. Some books have very large textural patches for the child to feel. Little Hands Love is especially good for that and has some good contrast to the pages. 

As you can see these books are well loved. They have been chewed on and show a lot of wear. That's an indication that they are favorites!

High Contrast Books

I only have a couple high contrast books because they are not that easy to find. I found all of mine at our local Half Price bookstore for very cheap. 

High Contrast Books

Just as the name says, these books are black and white with very simple pictures. They are good for the visual development of all babies. 

When Tom was going through all his vitrectomy surgeries and just starting to have some vision we were amazed at how he would stare at the sleeping baby's face. Again, who knows what he was seeing? But it was clear that he was seeing something.

Sparkle Books

Sparkle Books

Our large sparkle books are on loan from Tom's vision teacher. The small books were found in the dollar bin at Target. You have to be on the lookout because these books are not usually found in a bookstore. Don't be tricked by books that have a sparkly cover. Often they are not sparkly on the pages inside.

I shine a little flashlight on the sparkly part of the book and Tom just loves it. He will quiet right down when we bring out the sparkle books. 

Now Thomas loves his other books too. They just don't get used as much as these do. I can keep him interested in books that have a good rhyming scheme as long as I turn the pages fast. But these are the books he reaches for himself.