Baby books Archives - Page 5 of 12

Architecture Counts

by Michael Crosbie and Steve Rosenthal

I really like this little board book series that has counting, shapes, colors, etc. all associated with architecture. It\’s unique from most of the other kid books I see that tend to have cute animals, babies, familiar household objects or food items. This one is about counting- each page has a picture of part of a building and a number to count a certain feature- three dormers, five arches, eight chimneys and so on. The last page shows a large building with lots of windows, columns, chimneys and things for a child to count on his own. But I happen to especially like how it starts out- a picture of an open landscape with the caption 0 buildings.

Rating: 4/5 ……. 26 pages, 1993

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Baby books, Current Reads

Dear Zoo

by Rod Campbell

A child writes to the zoo asking for a pet. Each page has the shipping container, which open in various ways- and usually there is a bit of the animal peeking out. Lift the flaps and see what arrived- but most of them are of course unsuitable as pets- elephant, giraffe, lion, etc and get returned to the zoo. They keep diminishing in size down to a monkey, frog and finally a puppy which the child decides to keep. I think it\’s really cute and my toddler likes \”opening\” each package to find the animal inside. She loves puppies right now, so it has the perfect ending. My favorite page is the one featuring a lion- the flap of the crate actually has gaps cut so you see the lion\’s body through it- as pictured on the cover- and my kid always points out (delightedly) that his tongue is showing as the lion roars!

Rating: 4/5 ……. 18 pages, 1982

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Baby books, Current Reads

Bunny Rabbit in the Sunlight

by Kate Endle and Caspar Babypants

I think this little book is so wonderful, even though my toddler doesn\’t (once again!) share my opinion. It has lovely illustrations by Kate Endle of What is Green? and apparently the text is also a song- you can hear a bit of it here. Very catchy and cute. And the book is pretty unique, for baby fare. It\’s not just about naming animals or recognizing colors, but shows individual animals in their different habitats, and names the kind of light they\’re basking (or sleeping, etc) in. So it\’s not just sunlight and moonlight but starlight (skunk wandering across a yard), fog light (whale by a lighthouse), lamplight, lantern light, candle light, dawn light, twilight and so on. I really enjoyed this one. I\’m holding onto it for a bit even though my kid shows little interest and won\’t sit through it. Maybe she will if I sing!

Rating: 4/5 …….. 20 pages, 2011

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Baby books, Current Reads

The Big Eating Book

by Guido van Genechten

I seem to be making a round of poor choices, for my toddler\’s taste in books lately. This one I happen to almost agree with her assessment, though, which equals that of the last book. The book is about how kids eat, compared to other animals. First shows an infant nursing with a young boy looking on. Then shows a variety of animals eating different kinds of foods- the orangutan only eats fruit, the rabbit likes veggies, squirrel has nuts, the goat eats grass and so forth. I like that the last page of animals shows butterflies and says they get their food from flowers! Then we see the little boy again, eagerly raising his fork and spoon before a spread of spaghetti, salad, soup and bread. And on the next page he gets three desserts! I don\’t know why but something about the ending doesn\’t sit right with me. I like that it showed how we eat a variety of foods- but did the boy have to have three bowls of ice cream? I guess kids would find it delightful, though. And I do like the quality of the illustrations.

Rating: 2/5 …….. 20 pages, 2007

Tags: 2/5- Just Okay, Baby books, Current Reads

Babies on the Go

by Linda Ashman
illustrated by Jane Dyer

This is another board book that my child just doesn\’t like, protests when I pull it out and we never get through more than a few pages. I however think it\’s lovely- all about how different infants are carried about by their mothers. The first page shows a baby in a stroller, then goes through a variety of animals: swan cygnet tucked under wing, baby bat clinging to its mom, lion cub dangling by its nape, anteater riding piggyback, kangaroo joey tucked in a pocket and so forth. It\’s got some nice rhymes and shows a wide variety of animals and methods of taking their babies from here to there. The last spread shows human infants once again, in different kinds of infant carriers, strollers, baby slings etc. The illustrations are nice with very gentle lines and colors, perhaps the lack of strong contrast, bright colors or general liveliness is what bores my kid. I\’ll try it on her again a few more times when we\’re in quieter moments, then back to the library it goes!

Rating: 3/5 ……. 32 pages, 2003

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Baby books, Current Reads

Bathtime for Twins

by Ellen Weiss
illustrated by Sam Williams

Entertaining little book about two toddlers sharing a bath. They splash and pour water, admire their toy boat, play with soap bubbles and generally just have a good time getting squeaky clean. Then there are towel rubs, squirming into pajamas and snuggling in bed. It\’s simple and adorable. The text moves in an easy rhythm with good rhymes patterns (not forced as some kid books can feel). The pictures are pencil drawings with watercolor wash (at least that\’s what it looks like to me); they have a nice soft feel and are yet very lively and fun. My kid really likes this book; it\’s currently one of her favorites. If I see one of the companion volumes -there\’s one featured on the back of the twins enjoying playtime- I\’ll certainly check it out.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5 …….. 28 pages, 2012

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Baby books, Current Reads

Who Hoo Are You?

an animals book
by Kate Endle

This is one of those little books which I happen to find lovely, but my daughter doesn\’t seem to like herself. It has the same charming cut-paper illustrations with wonderful patterns and visual textures as What is Green? Each page is just a picture of an animal naming himself: I\’m a lazy lion, I\’m a curious kitten, I\’m a lovable little lamb, etc. They\’re really adorable. I especially like the tipped-over turtle; his shell has splotches that look like differently-colored rocks, with a nice patchwork effect. But for whatever reason when I open it and start reading about the animals, my daughter reaches out to shut the book saying \”No!\” and pushes it away. I think her opinion is made clear, though I\’m puzzled at the cause. It\’s happened the past five or six times I\’ve tried to read it to her (we\’ve only once made it all the way through) so I\’m going to take it back to the library and continue with other books.

Rating: 3/5 …….. 18 pages, 2010

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Baby books, Current Reads

Flip, Flap, Fly!

by Phyllis Root

Soft and bright pastel pictures illustrate this board book that shows various baby animals learning from their mothers their respective mode of locomotion. The little bird practices flying, the baby fish to swim, the snake wiggles, otter slides, duck paddles and so on. At the end of each spread the baby animal says \”Look, I see a-\” leading onto the next page of mother-baby pairs. Finally the little mouse sees a child, who isn\’t running or jumping but just getting a kiss from mom. Then the child ties it all together by observing all the baby animals around him. Nice book.

Rating: 3/5 …….. 32 pages, 2009

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Baby books, Current Reads

Touch and Feel Jungle Animals

by DK Publishing

Another one of the touch-and-feel variety, this board book features animals from the jungle with some foliage around them, and a texture patch on each page for little hands to explore. There\’s a fuzzy tiger, hairy orangutan, and nice scaly pattern on the snake. I did find it a bit disappointing that the toucan beak and frog skin were both the same- perfectly smooth- doesn\’t a frog skin have some kind of texture? but other than that it\’s a very nice book that keeps my kid engaged. Bright colors and very attractive-looking animals.

Rating: 3/5…….. 10 pages, 2001

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Baby books, Current Reads

Snowballs

by Lois Ehlert

This is one of the coolest board books I\’ve seen in a long time. Cut-paper collage illustrates birds looking for food in the new-falling snow. Then the narrator shows an accumulation of things in bags and piles, names the anticipation of waiting for a really good snow day. And there follows a showcase of snowmen, suddenly spanning two pages and taking up the width for their height so you have to rotate the book ninety degrees to change the orientation. There is a snow dad, snow mom, snow boy and girl, snow baby and snow cat, even a snow dog (pretty shapeless but fun nonetheless). The cool thing is that the snowmen, made also of cut paper, have all kinds of real objects put on them besides the iconic scarf and carrot nose. And multiple items are used that will feed the birds. There are strawberries and corn kernels, sunflower seeds, berries, raisins, popcorn, peanuts, etc. Plus all kinds of curious objects like id tags, toy car wheels, bottle caps and so forth. The dog covered with many kinds of buttons is fun. My eighteen-month-old likes to point out the objects she knows: \”Hat! Fork!\” Each page also shows a (grateful you must think) bird or squirrel on or near the snowman, which will also provide it some winter food. The last few pages show the snowmen melting. a nice touch with a bit of rhyme.

Rating: 4/5 …….. 26 pages, 1995

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Baby books, Current Reads

Tag: Baby books

RATINGS / SUBJECTS: