Book Review: The Secret Language of Babies

by Kim Neyer | More from this Blogger

This past week while browsing the bargain table at the bookstore, I came upon a title that really caught my eye: "The Secret Language of Babies: The Body Language of Little Bodies." Written by Sally & Edwin Kiester, who wrote the Better Homes & Gardens New Baby Book, this book is just under 200 pages and is hard to put down. It's full of large, colorful photos of the cutest babies (and their parents). It also features a language development charts, interesting baby facts, visual guides to interpreting baby's body language, sounds, faces and cries, and interesting research about babies and how they communicate with their caregivers. Since my son is already ten months old, I was able to look back on some of his behavior and milestones and see that this book is dead on. This book acts like an entertaining road map to your baby's development. In addition to describing the way babies learn to communicate, the book has countless ideas for developing those skills through different activities, games and songs.

Probably one of the most useful aspects of this book for new moms is the guide to baby's cries. The authors describe ten main types of crying: the howl, the rhythmic cry, the whine, the whimper, the shriek, the wail, the exhausted sob, the discomfort cry, the outburst, and the rhythmic sob. A picture of a baby crying in the particular style is paired with a description of what the cry sounds like, what it means and what you can do to make your baby feel better.

I would highly recommend this book to pregnant women and new moms alike. I think it would make a great shower gift. It is one of those books that is fun to leave on the coffee table since you do not need to read it straight through and there are so many great pictures to look at. Even my son loved looking at all the pictures of the babies!

Learn more about Kim Neyer

Kim is a freelance writer, photographer and stay at home mom to her one-year-old son, Micah. She has been married to her husband, Eric, since 2006.

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