Mary Murphy, by I Like it When

Simple book, with clear high contrast colourful pictures which even very small babies find interesting. The words are simple, positive and repetitive, which means they are understood and appretiated from a young age. I bought this book on the strength of Mumsnet Reviews and I'm not disappointed.

Comments from other Mumsnetters:

"Ever wondered how to sum up the special relationship that you have with your child and struggled for words? This is the perfect book to come to your aid. The repetitive text - 'I like it when you hold my hand...I like it when you let me help...' - gives little children the security of 'knowing'". "The ending is sentimental, nostalgic and heart-warming". "All my children have loved this book from being really small. Their reaction to it is wonderful".

A lovely book!

A lovely book; simple and beautifully illustrated. This is a great book for any "baby signers" - babies and toddlers soon learn to hold hands, dance, pretend to eat etc. in all the right places! Plus the end of the book encourages a kiss and a cuddle - the perfect ending.

I Like It When is a gorgeous little book that was in a bag of baby items donated to me by a neighbour who knows my baby daughter is that little bit younger than her granddaughter so could make use of the toys and books that had been outgrown.

This is a lovely board book that my 13 month old daughter has loved since the moment she first saw it. It's a vibrant red colour throughout and really stands out on her bookshelf, I think this is why she was first attracted to it but now it's turned into a favourite story and game.

The two penguins in the book are lovely, they are sweet and definitely drawn to appeal to babies and toddlers. My daughter loves to copy the actions of what the penguins are doing on each page. When the penguins are dancing she squirms off my lap so she can get on her feet and do a little bop which I think is really sweet. I've also taught her how to pretend to be splashing around in the bath and she likes the tickling page too because then I'll tickle her tummy which always makes her laugh.

There is a short sentence on each page to read to baby and the clever thing about the book is that you can read the words at the same time as doing the actions so you're helping your baby to learn about associating actions with words. For this reason I think this book will continue to be a favourite when my daughter is starting to talk more as she'll be able to name the actions herself, and again when she starts reading she'll have a head start with this book.

The pictures are gorgeous, they are almost cartoons in the way they are drawn and are very simply rendered so my daughter can enjoy the contrast of colours. This I thought was particularly effective due to the fact that penguins with their black and white feathers are automatically very good contrasts for a baby's developing eyes. The long yellow splash of their beaks is just another bright colour for my daughter to look at. The pages are definitely eye catching and draw my daughters attention from the very first page - on the page that shows her to play peek-a-boo she's never quite sure whether to play with me or the penguin.

This is a real heart warming book which I enjoy reading to my daughter because it allows us some time to cuddle together and play act what the penguins are doing. I love listening to my daughter giggle and chuckle while we are reading and I know I'm helping to develop a love and enjoyment of books at a young age.

Because it's a board book it's durable, my daughter is not the most careful child and this book has stood many tests including been thrown down a flight of stairs and ran over with the pushchair in the garden. It started looking a bit grubby but a quick wipe over with a baby wipe was all it took to have it looking as good as new.

You can buy a copy on Amazon for

a favourite in our house. my son loved this from being fairly young and also liked to act out the actions- especially i like it when you dance with me when he would stand up and do a little dance. can't wait to read it with my baby girl too.

Brilliant book! My 18 month old son loves reading this book with me and can imitate all the actions. When it comes to 'I like it when you give hugs', he gets up and comes to give me the cuddliest hug ever. Our favourite book!