One of the first books we got for him was 'Ten Little Fingers & Ten Little Toes' written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. This is a truly beautiful book and it is definitely my personal favourite. The illustrations are just gorgeous and there is actually a really nice sentiment. My son loves looking at the pictures of the little babies and he has cooed at them from a very young age. The rhyming languague makes it flow very well and it is a joy to read. This is a definite favourite at bedtime.
More of a stimulating day time story is 'Where is Baby's Belly Button' by Karen Katz. This is a lovely book. It is very bright and colourful and again has lots of images of babies which my son loves. There are little flaps on every page with various body parts (hands, feet etc.) hidden behind the flaps. My son loves to tear the flaps and unfortunately our copy is now missing most of the flaps!
A recent favourite is 'Peek-a-boo Penguins' by Matt Buckingham. This is a soft and sparkly pop up book which would also help with counting for older children. My son loves the story and illustrations. It is actually a surprise favourite as it is not something I would have picked myself (we received it as a gift) but he really enjoys it and I have grown to love it too.
Finally I could not finish this post without mentioning 'My Little Book of Nursery Rhymes' published by Brown Watson. This is a very nice book with lovely illustrations and features all of the popular nursery rhymes such as 'Humpty Dumpty' & 'Baa Baa Black Sheep'. I love reading this to my son and he loves the rhymes and pictures too. However this is a paper book and I would prefer to have it as a board book for his age as he tends to tear any paper within sight.
Overall I think board books are great for children of this age, they enjoy repetitive rhymes and like looking at colourful simple pictures especially pictures of babies faces.
What books have you enjoyed reading with your baby?
