Books for babies are fun. They are fun because babies are so content listening to the sound of a loving parents voice that they are not really fussed about what you are reading them. You could be reading the TV guide and they would still be enjoying themselves in the way only babies can.
Experts agree that reading to your baby from birth is a must to help them on their way in learning vocabulary and communication. Reading to your newborn amazingly also starts to help them on their way to understand concepts like letters and numbers.
As a new mum and with lots of other things to contend with starting their education day 1 might feel a little ambitious. Still, here is a big hint for you – story time is a perfect partner to a bedtime routine. And babies and toddlers tend to thrive on routine. It is a great excuse to snuggle up together and a good time to be reading books you enjoy reading aloud as well – enthusiasm is infectious.
In the first 6 months of a baby’s life they actually can’t really visualize colours, so black and white books are perfect for newborns, as are books full of very simple and highly contrasting pictures.
Babies especially love to see other babies in books, so books about babies, families and peekaboo are a really good choice for this age group.
Books can be read in a really soothing voice and help settle a little one off to sleep, so simple rhyming books are also a good choice for a baby.
Once you get out of the newborn stage and past 6 months or so, children’s picture books about things your baby is becoming familiar with in their world around them are all good choices. Things like Balls or familiar toys or even books that start to name household objects and animals.
Babies will always try and explore books in their own way – putting them in their mouths, chewing on them. This is all part of learning. Board books are a particularly great choice for very young children because they are little bit harder to destroy. Cloth books that can be easily washed are also a good choice.
In this classic and multiple award winning children’s book loveable babies of all shapes and sizes are all the same but different. They all have ten little fingers and ten little toes regardless of where they live.
This is a sweet rhyming story that little ones will love. It is beautifully illustrated and will tug at your maternal heart strings with the heartfelt message to baby at the end. This is the perfect gift for a new parent and baby. We love that baby gets “three little kisses on the tip of their nose”.
We love a book dreamed up and designed by a mum here at Story Mama, and this simple wordless board book is perfect for a new bub. Your baby will focus on the delightful pictures of cats, ladybugs, birds and a dragon-fly and be entertained for ages. I recently had the opportunity to test this one out on my new baby nephew and the verdict was that his parents could prop it up at his feet and he was indeed “mesmerized”. This book is very cool indeed.
The publisher says: A lively, rythmic text encouraging baby play.
This warm and funny little board book by Sally Rippin is full of babies doing their thing, crawling and wriggling, sitting up and exploring. It's very cute!
Helen Oxenbury’s much-loved babies are back in this delightful story to help engage toddlers and encourage a love of reading.
Clap your hands and make some noise with this bright and cheerful board book.
If you loved the diverse and multi-cultural babies from Ten Little Fingers you will love this short and simple board book featuring those same babies clapping, spinning, eating, playing music and waving. This book is Cute! A great pick for any parent patiently waiting on their child to start clapping. Love that moment!
This classic fabric book is a perfect format for babies and has some lovely scrunchy textures to explore. Based on the Tale of Peter Rabbit with fur to feel and fabric pages to explore. The fabric format and gift box make it a lovely baby shower or new baby gift.
This children’s picture book is part poem and part lullaby. It celebrates a baby’s wonder at our world. Told as a parents wish to their child, it is all things we love in a bedtime story, heart warming, soothing and timeless.
Shortlisted by the Children’s Book Council of Australia in 2014, this book is a treasure. If you know someone about to have a baby, it makes a gorgeous baby shower present. It is a perfect choice for a first book to read a new bub. The book itself even feels special to touch being covered in fabric.
This is a very sweet bedtime lullaby perfect for babies.
Shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council of Australia Early Childhood book of the year in 2014, this children’s book has a soft padded cover that is perfect for little hands. Full of cute baby elephants to coo over, this is a lovely bedtime story celebrating a parents affection for their young. With lots of potential for interaction, this children’s book is bound to become a bedtime favourite.
Hello little babies, Welcome to the world. In this story, 6 new babies are welcomed into the world. They include Alice, Ruby, Mika, Zane, Vikram and Tom.
This simple and beautiful book from one of Australia's favourite authors, features babies & toddlers doing their thing. They sleep in all their different cots and cradles and prams. They play on the floor and in the bath. They eat things like pears and watermelon. They get around by crawling and walking. Then they go exploring.
This book makes a great baby shower gift. It represents a baby’s first year and how they change over that time. This story featuring multicultural babies growing is a gentle and soothing read aloud. It is a great bed time read aloud for the very young.
Babies hide and play and snuggle into bed.
This is a cute and simple board book with bright illustrations for little fingers to enjoy. Little kids will enjoy seeing babies doing familiar things, hiding, and seeking and playing.
So that’s it, our Top 10 Best Books for Baby. Is your favourite here? What was the first book you read your child? Tell us in the comments below.