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July 2000Baby 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. THIS MONTH'S FAVE RAVE: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 HONOURABLE MENTION: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. For more books in this age range see our baby books archive. Also see this month’s books for babies: |
