September 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:
My Toys, designed by Alix Wood and Jenny Fry
This washable
padded cloth book has lots of surprises, including a big fabric flap
sewn onto the front cover. Under this toybox lid are four toys that
appear again on the inside pages a teddy, a ball, a drum, and a
kite. The teddy is attached to a ribbon, and can be placed in a little
truck or thrown out of it, if your child is feeling rebellious.
The last image of a sad looking rabbit holding onto a kite
string allows baby to lift up the cloud-shaped flap to reveal the
rabbit's smiling kite underneath.
Mum of a three- month-old comments: "In many ways, a cloth
book is more useful than a playmat for really tiny tots. My daughter
can't sit up yet, and doesn't like lying on her tummy. She enjoys
pulling at the toybox lid on the front it makes a crinkly
sound."
Published by Andromeda, £4.99
HONOURABLE MENTION:
A Bear with a Pear, illustrated by Nicj Sharratt
This is
one of those Buggy Buddies, that can be attached via an expanding
plastic cord to a pram or other carry-unit while you and baby are on
the move.
All the rhyming animal examples work there are no awkward
pairings, and even though it's a tiny board book, a punchline has been
packed in at the end.
Each new picture shows an animal with a particular kind of food, so
for example there's a puffin with muffins and a bee with peas. The
food is also numbered, and goes from one to ten. The number ten page
features a bald purple ape sitting comfortably on the ground,
gleefully eyeing up a bunch of soon-to-be-scoffed grapes. And Croc's
nine chocs look pretty yummy too.
Published by Campbell Books, £2.99
For more books in this age range see our baby
books archive.
Also see this months books for babies:
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