Talking Baby: How to Help Your Child Discover Language (Margaret Maclagan & Anne Buckley, Finch)

Language development in children is a fascinating process, as any parent or carer will attest. In Talking Baby, experts Anne Buckley and Margaret MacLagan cover the years from birth to five simply but informatively. The book is aimed at parents, grandparents and those living and working with children, and offers useful suggestions and tips on how to best assist the growth of language. The most emphasis is placed on reading to your child early, and often. As a parent, I found Talking Baby to be a good refresher on certain points, not patronising as similar texts can be, and instructive, with break-out boxes such as ‘What Does Science Tell Us?’ and ‘The Things They Say’. The book is laid out clearly, making it easy to dip between a wide range of topics, including first words, putting words together and the terrible question phrases. Talking Baby is a helpful and well-constructed guide for the carers of children who may require alternative ideas or approaches when talking to children and understanding their language stages.

Katie Haydon is a former assistant editor of Books+Publishing, has two young children and is doing a course in Adult Language, Literacy and Numeracy

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

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