ptsamm,
Everytime I bring new books from the library, Charis is very interested and curious to find out what they are about. Even though I put those new books at the bottom of the pile of books, she will sweep away those on the top and grab the new ones underneath. Since I have been borrowing ORT books for almost 3 months, she is quite familiar with the look of the books. So they are not completely "new" to her in a sense. Despite that she is always interested in new books, she will also re-read those old books every now and then.
Yes, generally speaking, they are rather difficult books for 19-month old kids in terms of the meaning of the stories. So I will only choose those stage 1 books (some are with picutres only & no words, some are with short sentences.) and those with content concerning daily life or things that Charis are familiar with. What's more, I will have my own way of presentation, e.g., instead of expecting her to understand the story, I will teach her vocabularies of those object shown in the book. Indeed the ORT books are really for older kids. There is no need to hurry now.