Pippa, aged five months, her big brother Toby, three and three quarters and I have been enjoying a new range of baby books called Begin Smart Books for Brainy Babies. We were given three books from the extensive range of books which is a "developmental publishing programme" designed to encourage the physical, emotional, social and intellectual growth of babies and toddlers.
What Does Baby See? £4.99) is targeted at newborn to six month olds. The board book has 14 pages, each with a high contrast graphic image of an animal set against a primary coloured or black and white background. Each animal has a silhouette eye and (where appropriate) whiskers, there are no words so that the story can be invented as you go along.
Pippa, Toby and I sat down to read What Does Baby See? Tobes enjoyed inventing a story about the animals living on Godstone Farm, the venue for his first pre-school summer outing. Pippa enjoyed Toby’s pleasure in the pictures and was happy to snuggle up with us and have the book "read" to her three times in a row with three variants on the animals at Godstone Farm theme!
What Does Baby Say? (£4.99)is a lift-the-flap book aimed at 12 to 18 month olds. This book elicited giggles from Pippa who was delighted by the bold and simple illustrations of smiling and active babies on each page.
There is nothing like the smile of recognition made by a baby at another face and on the simplest level, this book satisfied her. Toby enjoyed guessing the baby's response to the various questions before lifting the flap and finding out the answer revealed in the book.
The illustrations, colours and amount of copy seem ideal for the specified age range and I’d definitely choose this book as a first birthday present.
We had fun with Look at Me! (£4.99) aimed at 18 month to two year olds. This lovely, interactive book has die-cut handles at its edges which makes it easy to hold up as a mask of six different animals. Toby insisted on holding the book up to Pippa’s eyes, then "acted" it to us in front of the mirror and finally it was my turn to sit in front of my audience of two as I turned into the various animals. The eye holes are nice and large so that they are easy to look through. This book provided an enjoyable animal role play game which had the three of us smiling.
We have really enjoyed these books. I like the fact that Harriet Ziefelt has divided Begin Smart books by age so carefully. There’s no doubt that cuddling up with a book is a special and deeply satisfying part of being a parent and added to that the National Commission on Reading claims that reading aloud to children is "the single most important intervention that parents can make in ensuring their child’s later reading success". Who wouldn’t want that for their child?
These books are available from www.beginsmartbooks.com.