Baby books are the perfect way to teach newborns to toddlers many things including attention span, comprehension and language. Almost all of these new selections are board books which are normally small in size. All have bright colors and many have tabs or flaps to lift. All of these teach simple concepts to boost intelligence thereby beginning the concepts of reading and books or they teach the importance of family and love.
My Turn To Learn is a series of books by Natalie Marshall. These books are unique in that they are much sturdier than normal board books. They are reinforced making them almost invincible to baby’s hands. Each book has tabbed edges to enable the very young to flip through the book by themselves. Each page is brightly colored and teaches concepts based on the title of the book. The books include: “Shapes”, “Opposites”, “Numbers” and “Colors”.
Eric Carle is a favorite children’s illustrator. He has had two of his popular books reissued into board books. The Foolish Tortoise and The Greedy Python were both written by Richard Buckley and have Carle’s brilliantly painted pictures throughout. Typically board books are small in size. But both of these books are the size of a picture book, but made with sturdy pages.
Maisy books are another favorite of very young children. Lucy Cousins paints vibrant and simple pictures as well as keeping the text to a minimum. Maisy’s First Numbers and Maisy’s First Colors are her most recent books reissued into board books.
I Say, You Say is another series, by Tad Carpenter, and these books feature lift-the-flaps. The books include “Feelings”, “Colors”, “Shapes” and “Sounds”. Every page has a flap to lift and features colorful animals to teach concepts. For instance, the “Feelings” book teaches a different emotion on every double-page spread and ends with a mirror on the last page for youngsters to try out different facial expressions.
Guess How Much I Love You, by Sam McBratney, and illustrated by Anita Jeram, is perhaps one of the most popular books for parents to read to the very young. It has recently been reissued as a large board book with the same loving format and storyline as the original. Along with this book is Look What I Can Do: A First Concepts Book which has the same format and artwork as the original. This book teaches many basic concepts which includes weather, sounds, numbers and nature. It’s also interactive with pull tabs. There’s also Baby Book which also has the same format and illustrations as “Guess How Much I Love You”. This book is packaged like a journal to write down important dates and information concerning your baby. There are also several envelopes in which to place important items. All three books are similar in size, color and art.
You Were The First, by Patricia MacLachlan, and painted by Stephanie Graegin, is the only book on this list that’s not a board book. But, it is a beautiful book with the perfect message for your little one, reminiscent of “Guess How Much I Love You”. The story goes through the first few years of the parent’s first child. The message is that he was the first at many things. And while there will be more children, this child will always be the first.
Jump Up and Join In, by Carrie and David Grant, is a series to read along with and even a sing along. Lions Speedy Sauce and Elephant’s Birthday Bells are both books that include a CD. The rhyming text is toe-tapping and once you hear how the text turns into song, your entire body with feel the beat. What a terrific introduction to music!
Nosy Crow publishes books for the very young. Can You Say It, Too?, by Sebastien Braun, is a series with big flaps to lift. The two newest books in these small board books are Woof! Woof!, which has youngsters guessing what pet animal is behind each flap and Moo! Moo!, which has youngsters guessing which farm animal is hiding. Noodles is a series that features touch-and-feel. Noodles Loves the Park is the newest book in this series. Flip Flap, by Axel Scheffler, is a new series by Nosy Crow that youngsters will love and laugh over. Flip Flap Farm features different animals and by flipping the top half or the bottom half, you create a weird combination of picture and rhyme. A Tiny Tab Book, by Jannie Ho, features tabs on the outside that you can actually pull to discover who’s hiding behind it as you read through the simple stories. Teeny Weeny Looks for His Mommy and Bunny Boo Has Lost Her Teddy are the newest in this series. Baby and Me, by Emma Dodd, is a brilliantly packaged book that features interactivity for youngster to participate in. Two of these interactive pages are: tying a small cloth on a page to simulate a diaper and wrapping a cuddly cloth around baby that looks like a towel.
Sassy is a series that usually features on one side of the open page a large word, such as duck, and on the opposite side is the duck. Below the duck is “The duck says quack”. Some of the books in this series are “Baby’s World: A First Book of Senses”, “Who Says”, “Baby Sees” and “Baby Loves Colors”.
I’m including in this list of books a type of book that I receive many requests for: books for older siblings when the new baby arrives.
Cute & Cuter, by Michael Townsend, has a comic book layout with multiple pictures on each page. A little dog is best friends with his owner until a new kitten comes into the household. This changes the entire dynamics of the home and there’s much to learn here.
Little Frog’s Tadpole Trouble: Becoming a Big Brother is Hard!, by Tatyana Feeney, features a small frog and how he deals with the tiny tadpole who is now part of his family.
The artwork and text is simple, yet concise! There could be many discussions spinning off of this story.
Peanut & Fifi Have a Ball, by Randall de Seve, and illustrated by Paul Schmid, is a story about how to get along and enjoy each other. Why not teach this concept long before problems could arise?
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