"Chugga, chugga, whoo whoo." "EEK! A mouse." "Pop, pop." "Ruff, ruff, doggie." These are just some of my favorite children's books. No, they're not the titles of books, they are some of the sounds and words I use when "reading" with young children. Speech and language pathologists have been using books in their treatment sessions for years because we know that books are full of learning opportunities.

By now everyone has heard how important it is to read to children for literacy development, but did you know that using books with fun, animated sounds and words can increase your baby's interest in books, while providing speech-sound stimulation, language development and vocabulary enrichment?

Books are truly amazing and so much fun! I know that you're thinking, "Are you kidding! I can't get my baby to sit down long enough to read." You're right. It is no easy task, but Teri K. Peterson, speech-language pathologist and author of The Big Book of Exclamations says that active babies need to be engaged in books. "With this group of 'active little ones,' it's important we help parents learn how to use books a 'different' way – a way which allows the child to move around and 'play' with the book," she says.

Peterson has worked as a pediatric speech-language pathologist for the past 23 years and uses books in her sessions daily. She published The Big Book of Exclamations to teach parents to promote speech-sound development and imitation of gestures, sounds and words. "It is extremely challenging to get a motor driven 21-month-old seated and attentive during story time," she says. "He needs to feel things and experience them to be interested, not just look at the pictures and listen."

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