Good books for babies

[Jessicatmagnificat]

I'm a complete bookaholic, but with a 4-month old baby, don't have as much time as I used to for reading. I have begun to enjoy reading to DD as it seems this is the only way I will get my book fix. I have picked out various picture books from the library, and we read a lot of nursery rhymes and children's poetry. However, a lot of the books for babies/young children seem pretty rubbish to be honest. Can anyone recommend some good first books suitable for reading aloud to babies? What books did your babies enjoy? If they can be enjoyed by me as well as her, so much the better!

I read my 5 month old any old thing. He just likes to hear my voice so I read whatever I want to read. When we do read books for vhildren we read Oliver Jeffries and Dr Seuss.

Dear Zoo, books with babies faces, we liked any of the Dk books. Hug was also a good book by Jez Alborough,
Each Peach Pear Plum and peepbo by Allan Ahlberg

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by eric caryle (well most of his books)

I am a Usborne representative and they have some lovely books... if you don't have a representative nearby, you cna alway order over their website
link to Usborne at Home website
there is a Online catalogue.
I have a few "That's not my..." Books and they are lovely

In general I found my boys loved books with lil mirrors in aswell, they were fascinated by it
Baby's and Faces seem to fascinate lil ones big time. Also, bright colourful shapes are a big hit

We're going on a Bear Hunt is nice to read out loud - has a good rhythm to it (plus I remembered doing the rhyme at Brownies).

Oh, as I was just reading ms his bedtime story...a book that all my boys seem to love no matter how young....The Rainbow fish

DS (5.5 months) loves those fabric books, especially the ones that make rustly noises when he chews them .

My DD loves anything that she can pull / turn / lift etc so another vote for peepo. Also she finds 'what shall we do with the boohoo baby' very funny - even with my rubbish false voices and animal noises!!!

1st ones my ds1 loved (perhaps at a wee bit older than your dd):

Look out it's the wolf! by Emile Jadoul(GORGEOUS illustrations - ds1 loved it so much it's now in bits, but he sits in his high chair and flicks through them in the manner of that Bob Dylan video for Subterranean Homesick Blues).

'Hippos Go Berserk' and 'The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton Still much loved at 16mo

'Dear Zoo'

'Aarrgh Spider!' by Lydia Monks

'Is it bedtime Wibbly Pig?'

And latest fave is a DK board book with photos of things in it - his language has recently exploded so we spend HOURS pointing at the digger and saying 'digger' overandoverandoverandover again. Boys...

Oh, and he used to have a book, now utterly destroyed (sensing a theme here...) called Playtime Peekaboo with enormous flaps and toys hiding under them - he loved that when he was tiny. I think they do other ones in the same series too - bathtime peekaboo or some such.

what about these ? cheap too!

My DD is 11 months but I've been reading to her since she was very little. She loves Poppy Cat, That's Not My Monster, Robot, Puppy (Kitten is rubbish), Dear Zoo, Bedtime for Baby (can't remember who by) and anything with photos of babies in (some of the old Bookstart books are good for this). I've picked up most of them in my local second-hand shop or the library so you don't have to spend a fortune.

Dear Zoo

Oh Dear

Buster's Day (these 3 all by same author)

One Gorgeous Baby (Helen Oxenbury)

That's Not My (car and lion are the ones we've got)

Some of these are actually stories rather than picture books but they are all great.

Sharing a Shell is brilliant (and it boasts 'glitter on every page') You can get it in large format paperback or a hard book version.

That's not my bunny/dragon/mermaid

Owl Babies is lovely

Lamb-a-roo about a lamb that's adopted by a kangaroo in the outback (you just have to go with it really!)

at that age babies just want to hear your voice
any book that they can grab, cloth books and chunky books
why not go to a big bookstore and have a good look at them? I find books are so personal, and what might have great reviews I just can't get on with at all

My little one is 7 months old and has loved books since she was 3 or 4 months old.

I would highly recommend

'Baby Boo', 'I love you' , 'Baby's day', 'Mummy, baby' and 'Daddy's day' by Amazing baby. In fact, the majority of their books are fantastic.

My little one has been obsessed with lift the flap books for a while, now

Night, night, baby - Ladybird and the Baby's Box of fun by Karen Katz are excellent.

Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton is also, lovely.

She's also really enjoying 'Noisy Zoo' by Usborne, at the moment.

That's Not My ... (Monster) was personal favourite for my DS now 13 months. From about 6 months (when he could sit up) he would actually sit in his cot and 'read' them to himself by feeling the pictures for about 10 mins at a time.

And as others have variously said:
Night Night Baby (lift the flap)
Wibby Pig
Spot the Dog
Moo Baa La La La
plus Moo Cow Kung Foo Cow by Nick Sharratt
and Meg and Mog

GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU, Miffy, owl babies, miffy, the very hungry caterpillar, miffy, dear zoo, miffy, this is the bear, miffy, wInnie the pooh, and what was it?... Oh yeah, MIFFY!

We quite liked MIFFY by the way!

Where the Wild Things Are, Julia Donaldson's books, some of Jill Murphy's books, are a bit more fun for adults to read. Get a pile of books from the library so you don't get too bored.

Try and get proper stories in board book editions, then if she grabs them they won't get destroyed. I often give my 15 month old a board book to play with while reading to DS1 aged 3.

DS (6 months) seems to love anything with a rhythm. Peepo, Each Peach Pear Plum and We're Going on a Bear Hunt have all already been mentioned and agree that all three are fab We've got the boardbook editions as trying to rip paper seems to be his other main interest at the mo.

So much by Trish Cooke/Oxenbury
Maisy books Lucy Cousins (esp nursery rhyme one - nice clear pictures)
Dear Zoo
Spot
Where is the Green Parrot

not all board books..
Ten in The Bed - Penny Dale
Whatever Next - Jill Murphy

the little Shirley Hughes books with simple text too
Big Helen Oxenbury board books can't remember what they are called...

Another vote for Dear Zoo here.

Also DD likes the touchy/feely ones - I've got 'Baby Animals' and a couple of 'That's not my...' which she enjoys.

The Baby Sees books are brilliant - both my children were obsessed with them at that age.

Be careful about what you choose at what age though, as many of the suggestions below only really work with older babies/toddlers. But if your DD rejects it now don't worry as it will come into its own later, I promise!

At 4-6mo DS liked Baby Boo and others from that Amazing Baby range - simple pictures and mirrors.

6-12mo was more flap books and texture books like Dear Zoo, Maisy or That's Not My (although I loathe loathe loathe those myself!) plus rustly fabric books. He also liked very short simple stories with actions (Tickle Tickle by Helen Oxenbury which we got in the Book Start pack was fabulous). This was when we started a proper bedtime story routine.

12mo+ was when he really got into proper stories until 12mo+ - but even then most like Gruffalo were too long for him until 18mo+ - but he did love looking at story books with intricate illustrations (like the Ahlbergs' books) from before he actually wanted to listen to the full story so we would just turn the pages and point out animals or flowers or such like from maybe 8-9mo.

Some specifics that haven't been mentioned:

Meg & Mog were favourites from an early age (hence my MN name!) as they are so bright that little ones love looking at them, and then there are lots of fabulous sounds you can make when reading them like Pfffffft and Screeeech and Owwwww which babies love. But they then still work well for toddlers too.

My Mum by Anthony Browne and My Dad: DS loved these from around 9-10mo and still likes them now at 2.2 and I find them charming as they are all about how fab your parents are

A DK book called something like My First Words was fascinating for DS from 9mo when he got it - would probably have liked it sooner too. Lots of pictures grouped by category - so things in the home, or in the park, or food, or toys, or vehicles or animals. Great for developing his vocabulary (both speaking and word recognition) and for chatting about our day - e.g. showing pics of things we did in the park or food he ate - so also good for building his memory and recall. Things like the Argos catalogue are also surprisingly good books for prompting this sort of discussion activity too!

It's so much fun! I am expecting DC2 in Sept and can't wait to start exploring books from the beginning again!