Five popular books your baby needs right now
What are the best books to read with your baby? Here’s my review some of the most popular baby books that tick all the right boxes. I’ve been reading to my baby since he was in the womb, and I’ve noticed that some baby books appeal to him more than others – you can’t go wrong with bright, contrasting colours, lift-the-flap books that add an element of surprise, and plenty of fun words that you can turn into sound effects – like swoosh, boom, and zip! He also goes through phases of different must-haves, so we have a collection of popular (and obscure!) baby books on rotation, all available from any of our favourite children’s bookstores in Singapore.
Here’s our review of our favourite baby books right now:
Red Truck
by Kersten Hamilton, illustrated by Valeria Petrone
A book for play time! A school bus gets stuck in the mud, and is saved (spoiler alert) by the Red Truck! Short and easy to read with a little rhyme, big bold beautiful colours and some nice big action words like ZOOM! RING! SPLOOSH! It gets the little ones giggling. More in the series include Blue Boat and Yellow Helicopter.
Where is the Green Sheep
by Mem Fox, illustrated by Judy Horacek
What is not to love about this book? It’s perfect. Firstly: the suspense! Where is that green sheep? Written in easy and infectious rhyme, the whole family will learn it off by heart and start talking ‘sheep’ before you know it! Bright colours, simple shapes, babies just love this book. Look out for other titles by Mem Fox such as Ten Little Fingers and Ten little Toes which are also worth a spot on the shelf!
Baby Touch Your Nose
by Dawn Sirett, designed by Victoria Palastanga
From the DK’s Baby series, we won’t lie, it isn’t the prettiest book, but it uses real photos, in this case of babies, and prompts us to ask our babies to pat their heads, wiggle their toes and touch their nose. Different textures on each page which provide babies with a nice tactile experience. It just works – babies respond to photos. Other titles include Baby Animal Friends and Baby Faces.
That’s Not My Bunny
by Fiona Watt, illustrated by Rachel Wells
From a series of “That’s Not My…”, this totally adorable book has bold bright colours, simple shapes, and textures that invite babies to touch and scratch each page. The only criticism is the cliff-hanger ending. Unlike the sheep book, we never really know where my bunny is.
Dear Zoo
by Rod Campbell
We love a book that allows the reader to embellish the story; this keeps it fresh and prompts fun interaction with our baby. A child writes a letter to the zoo asking for a pet. The zoo keeps sending inappropriate animals hidden behind little flaps that baby will eventually learn to open and shut. Does the zoo eventually send the right pet?
More must-have baby books:
Good Night Gorilla
Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?
My Heart Fills With Happiness
What the Ladybird Heard Next
Giraffes Can’t Dance
And the timeless classic, Good Night Moon.
The utterly adorable Sandra Boynton books such as Moo Baa La La La are so much fun for both baby and reader, and anything illustrated by Helen Oxenbury is a treasure. Karen Katz lift-a-flap books such as Where Is Baby’s Puppy? Are great self-entertaining books.
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