Board books really are excellent for babies. Buying a handful of them as a birth present for any new arrival will bring real delight.
Board books are genuinely easy for babies to hold even when they are very young. And their study production means that they can withstand very active handling, being dropped, bent, bitten, smeared with jam and squished with raisins.
Both classics and new titles are produced as board books; sometimes they have a slightly reduced text compared with the original and other times they are the complete text.
A beautiful board book version of the classic picture book Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd has just been published to celebrate 65 years of the original.
This robust version captures the magic of this simple and soothing rabbit-family bedtime story which is perfect for every baby’s bedtime rituals. “Goodnight room/ Goodnight moon/ Goodnight cow jumping over the moon/ Goodnight light/ And the red balloon/ Goodnight bears/ Goodnight chairs” and so on. It is a book that will be read over and over again.
Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury’s We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is another classic board book which introduces even the youngest listeners to the wonderful and repetitive language as the family set out on their journey through long wavy grass, a deep, cold river, squelchy mud and much more.
Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, with its irresistible holes for little fingers to explore is as the caterpillar eats its way through all kinds of food including an apple, cucumber, salami and water melon.
Pat Hutchins’s Rosie’s Walk, a simple story about how a wise hen outwits a hungry fox as she leads him into a number of disasters in the farmyard and Lynley Dodd’s Hairy Maclairy from Donaldson’s Diary, follows a scruffy and ebullient dog on his adventures with his friends.
And now some new classics: Tim Hopgood’s Walter’s Wonderful Web is a charming story about a resourceful spider who spins all kinds of shapes into his web. This is fun just to read and enjoy but it also includes an introduction to basic shapes which can be enjoyed later! WOW! said the Owl is an equally attractive title by the same author/illustrator about a bold little owl who decides to spend the day awake – with exciting results.
Chris Haughton’s Oh No, George!, the story of a dog who tries his hardest to be good but, nonetheless, seems to be always in trouble works perfectly as a board book.
Fabric designer Jane Foster’s ABC is a collection of gorgeous images for the different letters of the alphabet which will make a perfect introduction to learning the alphabet when the time is right.
What are you favourite board books? Which books are not yet available on board but should be? Tell us on Twitter@GdnChildrensBks and by emailing childrens.books@theguardian.com and we’ll add your ideas to this blog!
What are the best baby's board books? http://t.co/Cm80ApudwT my fav with my babies was Peepo by the Ahlbergs, probably read it 2000 times
— Emily Drabble (@EmilyDrabs) October 12, 2015
@EmilyDrabs @GdnChildrensBks Dear Zoo. "I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet. They sent me a..."
— Docmana (@Docmana) October 12, 2015
@GuardianBooks @GdnChildrensBks What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry all about jobs. Story and a reference book kids can explore.
— Michael Jordan (@canoeparty) October 12, 2015
@GuardianBooks @GdnChildrensBks the @babylitbooks are beautiful &s krensky/ s gillingham's I Am So Brave @AbramsAppleseed is empowering too!
— AngharadGwenlaisWms (@AngGwenlaisWms) October 12, 2015
