So, what is a board book? Introducing children to the world of literary classics is an intent on the part of the educators to make them aware of the beauty of words. However, in their first exposure to books, they may not understand what gets written on the pages. So, they browse through the pages to search for pictorial illustrations, bright colors, plants and animal images, and pictured stories. These visual depictions appeal to their senses and thus seem fun to them.
In the initial stage, an infant learns by associating literary concepts with images. For a child, T for tiger is more like a picture that depicts a gigantic yellow animal with a black stripped body and sharp teeth. Likewise, a child develops the first impression about an object of learning by believing what he sees in the image sketched on the page.
You may wonder why a kid feels more connected to portraits than words. The answer is simple. Human motor skills function in association with human sensations. Kids, at such a young age, fail to sense the depth of the word written in the form of text. In this case, visual memory takes the lead. For toddlers, visual memory can achieve a pivotal role in cognitive development and perception.
You may have gathered a fair idea about how important visual learning is for an infant. Parents use board books for their children to make learning enjoyable. Board books tend to educate kids by taking recourse to magnified images, large fonts, kid’s friendly material, and a bright front cover. So now, let us put on our reading glasses to browse through the pages of children’s board books to feel their bits and pieces.
What Is a Board Book?
A board book is exceptionally fruitful for young readers, especially elementary-stage learners from 12 to 18 years. The pages of a board book contain colorful illustrations. For brain stimulation, the book uses pop-up patterns and 3d structures.
A kid, while moving through pages, comes across exciting patterns. They start identifying it as a picture book due to its minimal text and simple words written in gigantic letters. As they touch the popped-up images with their baby hands, they land on the journey of playing with words and pictures.
These children’s books are hardcover books that can ensure the durability of the pages. The pages of these books are thick and made of cardboard. A toddler tends to tear pages frequently and may end up chewing them, which is harmful to them. This incident may happen if the child has access to regular printed pages.
So, the appropriate option to provide a kid with an essence of image learning while ensuring their safety is to make a child familiar with board books from the first introduction to the last conclusion.
A board book format does not follow a fixed pattern. The combination of words and picture narratives gets printed in a smooth finish and glossy texture. The moment little ones indulge in locating the splashes of bright color, they involve in deciphering the meaning of the image unconsciously.
How to Make a Board Book?
Getting your hands on a board book is as easy as pie. Numerous websites deliver the best board books at market-challenging prices. But, if you want to customize your board books, follow these simple steps below.
Selecting the Cardboard
The first step is to select the material for the board book. Manufacturers generally go for hard gauged cardboards to ensure the wear and tear threat from a child’s teeth. The quality of the cardboard must not hamper a kid’s health if a kid bites it. It must have a kid’s friendly certification.
Choosing Kid’s Friendly Images
While printing the images on cardboard, the brand makes it mandatory to go for some selective photos that are popular among kids. Young children look for fun emojis and pictures appearing in multimedia streams frequently.
Using Colors
A board book must have splashes of bright colors and random pictorial art. These creative patterns help a kid learn not only the image but also patterns and shapes that he can relate to later.
Collage Making and Digital Designing
Once the materials and images are ready, the computer takes the lead. The picture, letters, and fonts prepared as soft copies get edited using the graphic application and photoshops. After quality inspection and final check, they get printed as cardboard pages.
Printing and Drying
The second last step involves printing and drying the pages. When a print comes out of the printing press, an immediate touch or water spills can destroy the effort. Thus, each cardboard page gets arranged parallelly to let it dry.
Binding and Packing
After the printing process is complete, binding is a vital step. Since a board box uses thick cardboard, manual binding is not a fair recommendation. The binding process gets completed in an electrical bookbinder. The last step is packing.
You can input your customized sign if you feel like it on the cover page. Websites also provide options for easy customization. So, If you are gifting it to your child and wish to carve out a message on the book, you can also do that.
What Is the Difference Between a Board Book and a Hardcover?
Coming to the difference between a board book and a hardcover, we may say that the difference lies in the pages used.
A hardcover book has a thick outside cover, but the pages inside the book are regular pages that we generally use for printing. Whereas a book printed using thick cardboard or photopapers is a board book.
A hardcover book is for older children who have reached the age of maturity. On the other hand, a board book is for babies and toddlers and helps them to build fine motor skills.
A board book can contain 34 to 35 pages, while there are no restrictions for paperback or hardcover editions.
What Is the Purpose Of a Board Book?
A board book serves a didactic purpose. Children learn the alphabet, digits, animals, and plants without feeling the burden of learning. Also, they help a child grow an interest in reading. Finally, they are great for engaging a child in fun activities. You may see quick and positive results in your child’s overall development if they spend more time with a board book. Let us see some other benefits.
- It may help a child to develop concentration.
- They may gain interest in reading and develop a productive hobby.
- The patterns and shapes used in board books may generate interest in artworks.
- It may help in personality building.
- An infant may have better motor skills than others if the habit of reading board books is a routine activity.
What Ages Are Board Books for?
When we talk about board books, we generally associate them with kids. However, the ideal age to gift a child board books is 12 to 32 months. Since this age is for elementary learning, it may help improve cognitive skills in an individual.
Final Words
Learning is fun for children when they learn concepts using visual formats. If you have a toddler at your home and looking for ideas to keep them engaged, then a board book may be your best choice. Just flip up your laptop screen, search for the website that owes its brand popularity to board book sales, choose some bright poppy-colored textbooks, add them to the cart, and there you go. Head to the payment window and place your order.
Within a few days, you will get the best toy for your child delivered to your doorstep. As a parent, you are on the right track to making your child familiar with reading and learning habits. Little initiatives alike this will provide the best results in the long run