You just heard the wonderful news: someone you love is having a baby and it’s time to celebrate! What better way to show your excitement about the anticipated arrival than to throw a baby shower? Women have gathered to honor and support expectant mothers since Biblical times (think The Red Tent). But our current-day baby showers more closely resemble those that began in the Victorian period, when tea parties were held by female family members after the baby was born (because discussing a pregnancy publicly was taboo at the time).
How times have changed! These days guests at a baby shower are often clued in to the gender and even the name of the expected little one. Another trend is the Baby Sprinkle, a toned-down shower held for second-time moms. There are now showers for expectant Grandmas and—if you think you’ve heard it all—the Daddy Shower is gaining in popularity. Yes, it’s a gathering for the expectant father and his male friends only, an idea that would have had those Victorian ladies squirming in their corsets!
Celebrating the pending arrival of a child comes in many interesting and surprising forms, but the heart of the matter remains a strong desire to support the new family as they embark on their journey into parenthood. Experienced mothers will use the baby shower as an opportunity to share advice about pregnancy and newborns. The gifts they give reflect their wisdom about what a new mother and baby 
need at the beginning of their lives together. In the times of The Red Tent, the traditional gift to a pregnant woman or new mother might be a figure of Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of love and fertility (often given in secret, since idolatry was considered a grave sin at the time). Today, it’s soft onesies, musical mobiles, and glow-in-the-dark pacifiers, and although these 
offerings could not be more different, they all reflect the desire to give the new mother something she values, something that will support her as she eases into her new role.
As essential and thoughtful as these gifts are, each has a particular period of usefulness. They’ll be valued and enjoyed but very quickly outgrown and put aside. What then can you give the expectant mother that will truly express the love and support you feel and will have a timeless effect? Well, step into the children’s section of your favorite bookstore and your search will soon be over. Not only will you be giving a beautiful gift, but you’ll also inspire the new family to embrace storytime, that snuggly sacred ritual that will be treasured throughout the child’s life. By giving books you are sharing something so important, so enduring that it could quite possibly have an impact on generations to come.
Do you know what a woman does right after she finds out she’s pregnant (well, perhaps after screaming)? She reads! Pregnant women absorb information like sponges when it comes to their new role as Mommy. What better way to fulfill that need than by giving a book as a gift topper at a baby shower? I loved reading the books experienced moms told me were must-haves. It helped me feel like I wasn’t in this alone, like there really was a village behind me. You could even do cute things around a book-themed baby shower that have been trending recently, like a stack-of-books cake, a themed menu (Dragons Love Tacos), and even a guest book signing by a beloved (local!) author.
—Kristin Quinn, Misadventures in Mommyhood blog
It seems as though this idea is catching on, bigtime. The brilliant new trend of book-themed baby showers is spreading around the globe as more and more people realize the power of giving the gift of storytime. Guests are asked to bring a book to the expectant mother, sometimes in lieu of a card, favorite babies’ books are used in table settings, and images of kids’ classics are used to decorate the room—and even the cupcakes! The goal is to stock the new family’s bookshelf with a variety of titles, gifts the child will love for his entire life. Unlike clothes and toys, the love of reading cannot be outgrown. As a matter of fact, it grows alongside the child, changing and adapting throughout his lifetime, bringing new gifts and surprises all along the way.
This wonderful Book Baby Shower trend might have come about as a result of all attention given recently to the importance of reading. From Reach Out and Read to Too Small to Fail to Reading Rockets and, of course, your local children’s librarian, the message is spreading: Read to your child, even for just 15 minutes a day. Supported by lots of research, these early-literacy advocates say that daily storytime exposes children to new vocabulary, develops reading and language skills, promotes brain growth, inspires empathy, and encourages family bonding. Now that’s a gift!
There’s yet another benefit of giving books to an expectant mother. Those adorable little baby socks can be admired, but they can’t actually be used until baby arrives. Books, on the other hand, are a gift the expectant mother can start sharing with her little one right away! There’s a heap of research supporting the incredible benefits of reading to babies in utero. (Please scroll down the sidebar for links to studies, articles, and videos.) It’s generally understood that babies hear their mother’s voice during the last trimester, and remember and are soothed by the familiar story after they’re born. Those final weeks before baby arrives are the perfect time for parents-to-be to practice reading aloud, getting used to reciting bouncy Dr. Seuss rhythms and putting some silly expression into a Sandra Boynton story. This is the time to make bedtime stories a nightly routine that they’ll look forward to as much as their baby will.
Beautiful books for babies are abundant, and here are some tips for choosing the perfect Book Baby Shower gift. All the research shows that babies, inside the belly and out, drool over words that are rhyming, rhythmic, and repetitive, and get all gaga if the words are spoken by their mother. So pick a lovely, colorful book with simple poetic text. For some beautiful baby book choices, please see our December 2014 post, The Perfect Gift for Your Expectant Loved One. And of course we have to put in a word for our own Can’t Wait to Show You, created specially for reading to babies before and after birth.
How about a fun little extra to use as a party favor? Here’s a “Books We Read to Baby” reading log for expectant parents that you can print on cardstock and include in your book-themed decorations or goody bags.
The Reading Womb 