Beginning with Books

Best Books for Babies 2008

Fruit.   Anderson, Sara.  Handprint Books, 2007.

Vividly colored illustrations of fruits familiar and exotic fill the pages of this sturdy board book while a bouncing rhyme names each one and encourages young listeners to enjoy them.

Vegetables.  Anderson, Sara.  Handprint Books, 2007.

A companion to Fruits, this catalog of vegetables offers opportunities to talk about color and shape as well as identify a variety of delicious edibles.

Maisy’s Amazing Big Book of Words:  300+ Wonderful Words and 25 Flaps.   Cousins, Lucy.  Candlewick Press, 2007.

Children and parents can share one themed, double-page spread at a time and pore over the individual boldly outlined illustrations or flip through multiple pages to examine varied collections of household items, farm animals, toys, clothing, foods and more.

Tip Tip Dig Dig. Emma Garcia. Boxer Books, 2007.

Delightfully childlike illustrations follow the straightforward action as a digger, mixer, crane and other heavy machinery work to turn a messy site into a place to play.

Global Babies.  Charlesbridge, 2007.

Wonderful close-up photographs of babies from a number of different countries show how babies are cherished and cared for all over the world.

A Good Day.  Henkes, Kevin. Greenwillow Books, 2007.

This short tale, simply told and cleverly illustrated, follows four small animals, each of whose day takes a turn for the better and all of whom unwittingly contribute to a young girl’s pleasure.

Black & White.  Hoban, Tana.   Greenwillow Books, 2007.

Crisp black images on white pages and white images on black are sure to capture the attention of even very young babies while the creative, sturdy format allows parents to share the book in both the traditional way, by turning pages, and as a sort of portable poster set.

Peek-a-Baby.  Katz, Karen. Little Simon, 2007.

Parents and children will enjoy the perennially popular game of peek-a-boo as they read this charming board book that features smiling babies hiding behind everyday objects like an umbrella, a hat and even a teddy bear.

Trucks Roll!   Lyon, George Ella. Illustrated by Craig Frazier. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2007.

Boldly colored, blocky pictures accompany rhyming verse that describes the kinds of work done by trucks with a focus on activities most likely to appeal to young listeners.

Whose Chick Are You?  Tafuri, Nancy.  Greenwillow Books, 2007.

Attractive watercolor paintings show the hatching of a young swan while the simple, repetitive text describes the efforts of a chicken, duck, sparrow and goose to figure out just who the little chick’s parents might be.