How to build a book collection for baby

When Baby Girl was four weeks old I spoke to a friend who had started reading to her baby already, and I instantly got worried my little one had missed out on an important early literature adventure. As soon as I returned home, I went straight online to start buying books for baby, but I didn’t really know what to look for.

We had black and white baby picture books, but were advised to look for books with different textures, flaps and sounds. Now I can’t wait to introduce Baby Boy to more books, and with yesterday being a rainy day in London, I got his little book collection organised, creating a separate book shelf in the living room, so I have easy access to books I feel he’ll enjoy soon.

Since I didn’t know many English nursery rhymes before Baby Girl was born, one of the first books I bought for her was Baby’s very first noisy nursery rhymes (£9.99, Usborne), one of Usborne’s Baby’s very first sound books with high-contrast illustrations and five buttons. The book is a great introduction to nursery rhymes since it includes both text and melody. Perfect for new London parents with a different nationality!

For summer, Baby Boy has received another colourful Usborne baby board book, Baby’s very first slide and see under the sea (£7.99, Usborne), one of Usborne’s interactive Baby’s very first slide and feel board books with fun sliding panels. The sliding features are fantastic for developing motor skills and hand-eye-coordination, and I can see these being more practical than flap books, which sometimes break. The book with sea creatures is ideal for taking on holiday due to the theme and compact size of these, and the content is sure to amuse babies and toddlers!

Animal books in general are perfect for a young audience, and I also like the large Baby Touch board books from Ladybird, which we also bought several of when Baby Girl was born. Baby Touch Peekaboo (£7.99, Ladybird) has different textures to feel on every page, flaps to lift, a mirror and illustrations of animals and faces.

For parents who want a little story to read as part of baby’s bedtime routine, I love the concept of puppet books, and we read Snuggle Bunny (£9.99, Templar Publishing) to Baby Girl every night for a very long time. Sweet and cuddly!

Tags: Bedtime, Bedtime book, Ladybird, Ladybird's Baby Touch books, Routine, Snuggle Bunny, Templar Publishing, Usborne, Usborne's Baby's very first books