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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm FaithLapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. This week on our program, we explore theworld of babies.

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VOICE ONE:

About four million babies are borneach year in the United States. Some mothers give birth at home. Butmost babies are born in hospitals or birthing centers.

Traditionally, new parents might have read a book or two aboutbabies. But most of their advice probably came from their ownparents.

VOICE TWO:

Today the newest, and smallest, Americans are at the heart ofmany industries. Some needs are still the same. Babies still needdiapers to cover their bottoms. But diapers are just one thing onthe shopping list.

Babies and young children are big business. They have many needs,judging by one book from Parents Magazine. The book is called"Parents Baby Gear: Everything You Need to Clothe, Feed, Transport,Protect, Entertain and Care for Your Baby from Birth to Age Three."

There is enough advice to fill more than one hundred seventypages, from the right clothes to the right toys to the right carsafety seats. There is even advice about how to choose athree-wheeled bicycle.

VOICE ONE:

Parents now have more choices of equipment to help keep theirchild safe. One example is the baby monitor. This device lets aparent listen to a child sleeping or playing in another part of thehouse.

Another example is the automobile safety seat. In the past,babies often rode in the arms of adults. Or they wore adult seatbelts.

Now, all fifty states require that babies under eighteen monthsof age ride in safety seats to protect them. Some states requirespecial seats for children up to a few years old.

There are booster seats for olderchildren who are still not big enough to wear seat belts.

Safety seats have reduced the number of children killed orinjured in road accidents. But special care is needed to make surethat the safety seat is placed correctly in a vehicle.

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VOICE TWO:

There is no shortage of advice about pregnancy and raisingchildren. Radio and television programs and Web sites provide allkinds of advice. There are many books, magazines and videos. Parentscan get suggestions from publications with names like "Parents,""Parent and Child," "Parenting" and "Exceptional Parenting."

A number of magazines in the United States began as smallpublications created at home by mothers. These women wanted to shareinformation about having and raising children.

VOICE ONE:

Two teachers from the Washington, D.C., area started one such apublication in nineteen eighty-two. Deborah Benke and Ann Byrne eachhad young children at the time. They and some friends produced thefirst copies of Washington Parent from their homes.

Educators, doctors and mental health experts wrote stories aboutcaring for babies and children. Each month, someone produced a listof local events of interest to families. Soon libraries and storesasked for copies. So did doctors offices and hospitals.

Over time, Washington Parent kept growing. Today, thispublication started by friends is thick with stories, color picturesand advertisements.

VOICE TWO:

Not all publications for parents were started by mothers. Innineteen seventy-nine, Jack Bierman became interested inestablishing a parents magazine for the Los Angeles area. At thetime, Mister Bierman was studying journalism and heading a collegenewspaper. He was not a father yet. But he said friends withchildren showed him how hard it was for parents to get importantsafety advice.

The next year, he and other writers started a publication. It wascalled Pony Ride: The Magazine for Parents in Southern California.It started small. It had just eleven pages. Mister Bierman had tenthousand copies published. He and his other writers took copies tolibraries, stores and offices of children's doctors.

But there were still copies left. So Jack Bierman placed theremaining ones on cars. He knew that many of the cars belonged toparents. How did he know? He chose the parking area of the LosAngeles Zoo.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen eighty-three, Pony Ride was renamed. It took a morebusinesslike name: L.A. Parent. Two years later, Mister Bierman andother publishers established a trade group, Parenting Publicationsof America.

More than one hundred local publications in the United States,Canada and Australia belong to this organization. The group bringspublishers together to develop guidelines for their industry. JackBierman also created an organization that offers suggestions aboutchildren's products.

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VOICE TWO:

Children also have lots they can read. The Children's BookCouncil, a trade group, says four thousand to five thousand newchildren's books are published in the United States each year. Theseinclude picture books and young adult literature, and everything inbetween.

Two books that have been popular for many years are "Pat theBunny" and "Goodnight Moon." "Pat the Bunny," by Dorothy Kunhardt,contains soft material that feels like a real rabbit.

A rabbit also stars in "Goodnight Moon," by Margaret Wise Brown.The rabbit is in bed. Before it goes to sleep, it says good nightits room, the moon and more...

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VOICE ONE:

In many homes, books compete for time with electronics. Evenchildren too young for school often play computer games. Some gamesare designed to be educational. Some parents also buy videos likethe "Baby Einstein" series.

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This German nursery rhyme is from a language video in the "BabyEinstein" series.

But Americans are still buying many traditional toys for theirchildren.

The Toy Industry Association says dolls topped the popularitylist of traditional toys in two thousand three. Then came toys forbabies and children under school age. Arts, crafts, games, puzzlesand sports and outdoor toys followed.

VOICE TWO:

Parents can choose to spend a lot of money on toys. Two littlegirls who live in Virginia are proof that children often like thesimplest things best.

Daisy Bracken is two years old. She plays with dolls and likes tothrow balls. Fiona McMichael is three. She likes to pull her wagonaround. She fills it with other toys.

Then there is one-year-old Benjamin Watson of Encino, California.One of his favorite toys is very soft, but a lot bigger than him.Benjamin likes to play with the family dog, a yellow Labradorretriever named Crouton.

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VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Benjamin's grandmother, also known asJerilyn Watson. Caty Weaver was our producer. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

Before we go, a correction to our program last week on booksabout the immigrant experience: We said that Sandra Cisneros was theonly one of the four writers we talked about who was born in theUnited States. So was Francisco Goldman, although he also lived inGuatemala as a child.

I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA inVOA Special English.