Attention to Infant Literature as a New Discourse

According to the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), at the beginning of this session, Maryam Jalali, a researcher and activist in the field of children’s and young adult literature, stated that rhythmic poetry strengthens infants’ brains and language, adding: Infants up to seven months old cannot comprehend all words, but they fully understand sounds, syllables, and repetitive rhythms.

Referring to various theories in this field, she added: The development of the auditory network is shaped by the rhythm an infant hears, and this rhythm can create coordination between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Infants recognize the boundary between sounds and words from three months old, and lullabies subsequently lead to a wider vocabulary for these infants at 18 months compared to those not exposed to such poems. Furthermore, the rhythm of lullabies helps reduce infant stress and brings them a sense of calm.

The children’s and young adult literature activist stated: Poetic play begins from five to six months of age, infants grasp simple verbs between seven and eight months, and from the ninth month onwards, they understand meaningful rhythms.

She continued: Poems are sound-oriented from birth until the end of five months, and from six months onwards, they become meaning-oriented and movement-oriented.

The researcher and activist in children’s and young adult literature, stating that most books in this collection focused on sound-orientation, pointed out examples from the series and said: The book ‘Lullaby Poem’ by Maryam Hashempour has sound-oriented components; ‘Dali Dali’ by Afsaneh Shabannejad is sound-oriented and meaning-oriented, and ‘Vizo’ by Saeideh Mousavizadeh uses antonyms.

Jalali added: ‘Mashk-e Doo, Kareh Doo’ by Peyvand Farhadi is sound-oriented; ‘Tootoo Water, Come Come’, ‘Tootoo Wind, Come Come’, and ‘Tootoo Moon, Come Come’ by Maryam Eslami are meaning-oriented, while ‘We Three’ and ‘I Want to Sleep in Your Arms’ are movement-oriented, and meaning-orientation uses formal literature.

She concluded by noting that the format of the poems in the ‘I Was Born’ book series is ‘elastic’, stating: One of the most important advantages of these poems is their audience of under four years old, and their rhythms are delightful.

Afsaneh Shabannejad, a children’s and young adult author and poet, was another speaker at the session. At the beginning of her speech, she complained about criticisms that were merely insults and did not point out flaws in the work, saying: I agree with criticism; however, criticism should be effective in correcting and advancing the work, not just finding fault. I congratulate all the brave poets who worked on this collection.

Shabannejad stated: We must work for children’s literature and not seek to merely promote ourselves; try to compose valuable works, not just for festivals. When I entered the field of children’s and young adult literature, all our effort and thought went into composing good poetry for children, but unfortunately, this is not the case now; we are obligated to strive and work with the best works for the continuation of children’s literature.

The children’s author and poet added, stating that a lot of effort went into this collection: Three books in this series were suitable for unborn infants; the audience for some books was unclear; there were poems that mothers should read to their infants, most poems were set in a confined, home environment, and we did not venture beyond the home space, with most works targeting the 2-3 year age group. ‘Tootoo Water, Come Come’, ‘Tootoo Wind, Come Come’, and ‘Tootoo Moon, Come Come’ by Maryam Eslami were good works, ‘Qand-o Nabat’ by Akram Keshaee had good rhythm, and ‘Lullaby Poem’ by Maryam Hashempour was good.

Then, Kourosh Parsanejad, an illustrator and graphic designer, spoke about the illustrations of the ‘I Was Born’ book series: I do not give a passing grade to the collection’s illustrations; I don’t understand what difference these books have from books suitable for older children’s age groups? Because pictorially, they have no difference. This collection lacks good illustrations that would benefit the target audience, although the book ‘We Three’ is better compared to other works.

He stated: Reading these poems auditorily can convey a feeling, but regarding what is seen, much simpler forms should be used.

Parsanejad added: In producing a collection, we must be very sensitive; we should choose illustrators whose works are similar in style, whereas in this collection, we see a great diversity of illustration styles. These details might not even be suitable for children and should have been more concise.

The director of the Center for Artistic Experiences and New Ideas of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, referring to the lack of coordination between the physical form of infant books and the characteristics of this age in the collection, clarified: These books should differ from works for older age groups; given that infants put books in their mouths, the material of the book should be suitable for their needs; for example, fabric. Such collections should be a visual narrative that helps parents, but in these works, most illustrations are weak, and some are suitable for children over 2 years old.

Continuing, Farhad Fallah, Cultural Deputy of the Institute, stated: In learning Spanish, my first encounter with the language was infant literature, as it has a simpler language. The most important achievement of this collection is to work on infant literature. Infant literature is a new discourse that the Institute can initiate and examine its positive and negative points; in infant literature, we have mostly heard lullabies, while we can expand this field.

Fallah, referring to the publication of half-meter books for toddlers in other countries, stated: The book itself forms a communicative structure, and if literature is for infants, its communicative model should also be for infants.

The Cultural Deputy of the Institute, stating that a system of issues for infant literature should be designed, said: Adaptation in production is one of the serious prerequisites; does infant literature also include pre-birth? What characteristics does it have? These are the conflicts and contradictions present in this collection.

He added: Visual inspiration is one of the topics this collection has created, and some of these books have the potential to create a visual identity in the home environment for infants.

Fallah concluded: Let’s use the publication of this book series to expand the Institute’s activities in this field; we should envision the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults from the beginning of birth.

Also, in a part of this session, Zohreh Pariroukh, a children’s and young adult author who was responsible for overseeing the production of the ‘I Was Born’ series, and Mostafa Rahmandoust, a children’s and young adult author and member of the Supreme Book Council of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, spoke about the obstacles and difficulties of publishing this collection.

Pariroukh, referring to the shortcomings of this collection as the Institute’s first experience in infant literature, pointed out that when we have strong resources, why should we step back and present a weak work?

‘Mashk-e Doo, Kareh Doo’ by Peyvand Farhadi, ‘Lullaby Poem’ and ‘Play, Play, Caress’ both by Maryam Hashempour, ‘We Three’ and ‘I Want to Sleep in Your Arms’ both by Khatoun Hasani, ‘Tootoo Water, Come Come’, ‘Tootoo Wind, Come Come’, and ‘Tootoo Moon, Come Come’ all three by Maryam Eslami, ‘Qand-o Nabat’ and ‘Pish Pish Lala’ both by Akram Keshaee, ‘Dali Dali’ by Afsaneh Shabannejad, ‘Green Apple and Red Apple’ by Akramolsadat Hashempour, ‘Vizo’ by Saeideh Mousavizadeh, are among the books from the ‘I Was Born’ collection (age group positive zero) that were critically reviewed in this session.

The critical review session for the ‘I Was Born’ book series was held on Saturday, November 22, 2025, in the Ahmadreza Ahmadi Hall of the Reference Library of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults.