Top 10 Books for Babies
As we celebrate World Book Day this week, we thought we’d look at some of our top books for babies.
Baby massage and reading with baby go hand in hand – both encourage bonding between parent and baby. Let’s face it, who can resist a cuddle with baby while reading together? So next time you finish your baby massage, why not grab one of our suggestions below and get training that child genius of yours!
Kitchen Disco
Clare Foges
It’s never too soon to start reading to baby, and we think this groovy book is a great choice for the third trimester of your pregnancy – when you’re starting to feel fed up and whale-like. Not only will its quirky characters, like break dancing lemons, make you chuckle, but the musicality and rhyme will get you swaying your hips!
Baby’s Very First Farm Animals – board book
Dorling Kindersley
This is a fantastic first book to read to baby. It gives us the chance to make funny animal noises, and features clear pictures and simple words. And you can’t go wrong with a board book!
Freddy the Frog – plastic book
Axel Scheffler
This book ticks all our baby boxes! Made from wipe clean plastic, this book has a built in ‘squeak’ button, guaranteed to get giggles of glee from baby. It’s illustrated by Axel Scheffler, so the imagery is vibrant. We love it.
Guess How Much I Love You
Sam McBratney
The perfect accompaniment to a pre-bedtime baby massage. When you’re both relaxed and ready for bed, this is a lovely book about a little hare and his father telling each other how much they love each other. And when you get a little teary at the end, just blame those pesky baby hormones!
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes
Mem Fox
Read this story while massaging baby, or count their fingers and toes while reading. It’s great for teaching numbers. Oh, and it’s seriously cute!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar – board book
Eric Carle
Kids love this classic book. Watch as baby focuses on the brightly coloured fruit, and explores the holes in the book. They’ll also love your face as you describe those naughty treats like cherry pie and ice lollies!
The Gruffalo (or any Julia Donaldson books)
Julia Donaldson
Donaldson turns the most straight-laced and monotone of us into top entertainers. The rhyming, bouncy nature of her stories will thrill even young babies.
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
Michael Rosen
Baby will love the different sounds you make as the characters journey through ‘swishy-swashy’ grass, and squelch squerch in thick oozy mud on their ‘hunt’. Read this while delivering a baby massage, using different sensory materials to represent the sounds, such as a feather over baby’s tummy for the grass.
That’s Not My Kitten
Fiona Watt
Part of a series of books which offer plenty of interaction, toddlers love touching and feeling the different textures as you read with them. This one has lots of pictures of cute kittens with a fuzzy tongue, or fluffy tummy.
Le dinosaur – fabric book
Fiona Watt (translated by Renée Chaspoul)
This fabric book by the same author has been translated, making it ideal if you want to encourage your baby to be multilingual from an early age. Let baby chew and maul to their heart’s content while you practise your French. We promise they won’t judge your pronunciations!
Natalie x
