Baby books: Birth to 6 months
It's never too soon to introduce books to babies. Some radical
thinkers in this area suggest starting at nine months old, but why
leave it so late? You could start at birth, making book-time equal
quality-time for you and baby.
That's not my puppy, by Fiona Watt,
illustrations by Rachel Wells
 This
chunky book feels like it will last and last – a great bonus when
babies are being encouraged to interact with it.
On the cover is the
coat of a dog, and babies should enjoy sinking their fingers into its
long stringy pile. The rhythmical text encourages little ones to touch
the pink fluffy tail of a poodle (a soft material patch safely
encapsulated within the board pages), and two bumpy puppy paws (pads
with a glossy, bumpy texture). Turn the pages to see the puppy with a
shiny collar and the puppy with shaggy-furred ears, until you find a squashy foam nose that invites
baby to press it on the last page, and yes, That's my puppy!
Dad of a three-month-old comments: "My daughter really likes this
book. Some of the appeal lies in the big puppy faces and bright
patches of colour."
Published by Usborne, £4.99
What shall we do? and Who will be my friend?
Although these two titles from a
competitively-priced four-book series called Animal Antics are
labelled as suitable for 1 to 3 years, the bouncy rhymes are great for
any age.
This is how they go: "Who will be my friend? The dog, said
the frog. The hare, said the bear," and "What shall we do? Drink
some tea, said the bee. Go to sleep, said the sheep. Laugh, said the
giraffe."
The picture style is clean and friendly, and there's a lovely closure
in the decision made by all the animal characters at the end of each
of the
stories.
The other titles in this series are Where shall we sit? and What
shall we eat?
Published by Brimax, £1.99 each.
Where to next?
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