Best book for a 6 month old — Peace At Last or Peepo?

[FiveSecondsMore]

I'm getting three board books for a friend's baby, who is nearly 6 months old. I've already decided on Hairy Maclary and Where's Spot?, but I'm not sure what to get for the third, out of Peace At Last and Peepo. I realise a 6 month old will not be able to appreciate these as much as a slightly older child, but I know my baby niece enjoys being read to, even if it's just about hearing her parents' voices, and of course they can be grown into. What do you think?

I should add that I am biased towards Peace At Last because that's an absolute childhood favourite of mine, whereas I never had Peepo as a child, but I'm not sure that should factor in!

My DD loved the ‘where’s baby chick’ range of books with felt flaps at that age. You can get them from Amazon.

Peepo is nice but even at 18 months DD isn’t interested in it yet

Thats not my........ range of books are great for this age and onwards. They can feel all the different textures and they love them.

I'd get the one that has meaning to you and then you can enjoy reading to her in the future

Peepo is a nice book but It’s nicer for parents than children I think!
Mine preferred “The Baby’s Catalogue” which is similar.

At that age though I agree that tactile books were favourites, even the dreaded “that’s not my ...” series.

I don't know either of those books - but choose the one that would drive you less crazy if you had to read it out loud 20 bazillion times...

Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions. I'm definitely overthinking it, but I get the impression Peace At Last is more suitable for an 18+ month old, whereas with Peepo at least there's the repetitive "Peepo!" and some interest from the peepholes in the pages. But I don't know if the pictures in Peepo are a bit busy and detailed for a baby. Personally I far prefer Peace At Last — it's a great little story! — but I don't want to be wildly age inappropriate.

Thanks for the recommendations of the touchy-feely books (though I wish babies didn't prefer them — they're so much less interesting ).

Peace at last is horribly misogynistic. The whole large family are tbh. I don’t throw away books lightly, but they went in the bin.

The ‘Oi’ series of books are great fun.

Peepo for sure! Or Baby’s Catalogue. DS was definitely interested in that at 6 months. He was given that with Hairy Maclary, Where’s Spot and Each Peach Pear Plum by my sister when he was born and all 4 were favourites from very early on and still are now at 2.

@Marmite27

Peace at last is horribly misogynistic. The whole large family are tbh. I don’t throw away books lightly, but they went in the bin.

The ‘Oi’ series of books are great fun.

Peace at Last is the bears, not the large family (elephants) - I think you’re thinking of 5 minutes peace (by same author). Agree though that the large family is awful - a piece of cake is about dieting/mrs large being fat, and there’s one about the parents going out to mr large’s “dinner dance” which is mrs large’s one night out in the year! Very dated.

@Marmite27 Peace At Last isn't one of the Large Family books — are you thinking of "Five Minutes' Peace"?

Ah, cross-posted!

My kids both loved peepo from quite early on and it's a beautiful book. Each peach, pear, plum is also a good one for little ones. I liked the large family stories although I know they are viewed as misogynistic and outdated on here (alongside Peppa pig). However, I think they work better for older kids.

Neither, Peace at Last is too old for a baby and Peepo has wishy washy colours what won’t interest a baby. I’d get Dear Zoo personally.

@LadyCatStark I was originally going to get Dear Zoo as the third book, but it's very similar to Where's Spot?, and I liked the idea of getting three different styles of book (though I realise the baby won't care).

Ds is a year old and still doesn't like peepo or peace at last.

I'd recommend dear zoo, any oi! Or that's not my book or any of the Julia Donaldson/Alex scheffler board books.

I love both! My first liked to poke through the holes of Peepo, and as she got older she liked the cadence of the rhymes. Peace at last is a bit 'funnier' to her - when I read it out I made all the noises (snoring, fridge, birds) and she liked that. I read both to my 5-month old now and she seems happy to go along with both. Both classics, you can't go wrong

I know you asked which one out of those two, but a lot of posters have offered their own suggestions. If you're at all after a wildcard third option, maybe a Julia Donaldson with flaps. Great cadence and fun flaps.

That’s not my... are very good for a young baby.

Mine loved Each Peach Pear Plum when tiny.
Peepo also went down well. I agree with others that the drawings are a bit cluttered for tiny babies, but they’ll grow into it.

@duploo Would you say Peace At Last is an acceptable choice then, even at 5 months-ish? It's clearly a lot more advanced content-wise than the lift-the-flap/touchy-feely books, but I was imagining that with all the different sounds it might just about be okay. But it does look like it requires a much longer attention span.

I'm definitely open to alternative suggestions, though, if they're likely to go down better!

Definitely acceptable. Also, grandparents bought our little ones lots of books before they were ready. I loved going back to the bookshelf every so often to check if they're ready yet. Like slow released gifts to self!

DS loves Peepo - early on I think the cadence and the repetition, then the joy of poking the holes, now pointing out the various things he can see on the page. And I don't hate reading it! Which at that age is really the most important thing in my view

My mistake! Sorry, but definitely avoid the Large Family