Parents sometimes ask me, which is better reading material for younger kids, cloth or board books?
Cloth books are made intentionally for the lower age range in children from 0-2 years; these are the infants. Children of this age do not yet have adequate strength to lift a board book or if they do, their psychomotor skills are not yet refined, hence, those board books might fall on their teeny-tiny toes. Cloth books provide an alternate "reading" material for infants. More than anything else, a cloth book's value lies in interactive play because it can have a variety of strings, rattles, pulleys for infants to busy themselves with. The different textures in the cloths used also make a cloth book interesting. Some pages can be soft, crinkly, rough or smooth.
You'll notice that these cloth books sometimes end up as chewing material for infants, so it's important to have them washed regularly as well as to check for any chokeable material on them. It may also be wise to check the cloth book brand for lead content levels in the inks they use.
Now for actual reading value, the difficulty is that page-turning, an important pre-reading skill that can be taught for this age group, may not be developed well for the users of cloth books, both for the lower and upper age range. Since the material is soft and wobbly, holding the book properly and turning its pages can be quite cumbersome. Much assistance is required from an adult.
Board books on the other hand are meant for the toddlers or those in the upper age range. Board books are sturdy, hence, they cannot be easily torn by those strong toddler hands. You will be surprised to find out that board books can be used to teach page-turning even for the infants because they are chunky. But do keep an eye on an infant with a board book because it might end up in his/her mouth. Board books, though sturdy, are still made of paper and again, lead content for inks and colors used are suspicious.
So which is better then, cloth or board books? With my experience with my children and the other kids I teach, I would personally veer towards board books but of course, it all depends on the child's interest. Try buying a few of both cloth and board books and see what your child likes. When it comes to beginning readers, my philosophy is, give them whatever they like.
