Baby books: 12 months - 18 months
ABC, by John Burningham
 The
stylish artwork in this board book has been put together from material
produced over 30 years ago, and there is timeless quality to this
illustrator's interpretation of the alphabet.
The capital and lower case form of each letter is represented in a
rough stamp-print style, and presented in a box next to the matching
image. For "Jj jungle" there is a far-off view of monkeys and
other creatures nestled in the stepped canopies of trees, and for "Kk
king" a close-up of a grizzly-bearded, pink-faced king with huge
hands. The queen character further into the book is an ideal match! The
self-contained short-sporting men for "R r runners" and the
moustached xylophone player for "Xx xylophone" also express
great character and humour.
Dad of a 15-month-old comments: "I remember having this style of
book when I was little. I like the approach it's not garish, and
we're just starting to do letters together, making the sounds."
Published by Cape, £4.99
The Weather Baby, by John Cunliffe, illustrated by Joan
Hickson and John Lee
 This is an
unusual story, with lovely country scenes, telling of Phil Showers the
weatherman.
Phil still lives in Ramsdale, the place of his birth, and there's a
map showing the places he travels by every day. This includes Dobbin
Top, the hill where his mother used to take him for picnics when he
was a baby.
Phil tells his friends Lottie and Jack the story of one picnic he
and his mother had when a great storm blew up and he and his mother
rushed home to escape the bucketing rain. Phil tells how, as the
Weather Baby, he was fascinated to see the rain "swilling down
the windows".
At the end of the story Phil joins Lottie and her children in
another picnic on Dobbin Top.
Published by Scholastic, £4.99
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