The baby is chewing the corner of the book you're reading. Keep going — the best baby books were built for exactly this audience, and the reading is doing more than it looks like.
Why reading to babies works
The baby isn't following the plot; they're bathing in the ingredients — your voice's melody, the rhythm of language, the warmth of being held while pleasant sounds happen. That bath is where language starts, which is why the pediatric recommendation at HealthyChildren.org is to begin reading aloud from infancy. The words land years before the meanings; the association — books = together = good — lands immediately.
The best baby books by stage
0–6 months: high-contrast pages, your voice doing anything. 6–18 months: chunky board books, one image per page, textures, the point-and-name game. 18 months–3 years: simple plots arrive, along with the same-book-forty-times era (let it run — repetition is the whole curriculum at this age).
What comes after (the part most guides skip)
The best baby books have a shelf life; around three, real stories take over — plots, characters, five-minute arcs. Smart move at the baby-shower or first-birthday stage: pair the board books with the next shelf, waiting on the family's account. A ten-story illustrated series gifted now can't be outgrown before use, can't be chewed, and marks the first real story time. Zumblies Season 1 — 10 ebooks for ages ~3–7, $39 instead of $70.
Chew now. Story time soon. 👶