Podgy little hands clutching bright-coloured board books, and excited smiles all along - how many parents have these fond memories of sitting together and sharing a book with their little ones.
When our son Sash was a baby, we lived in the States, and I had subscribed to a monthly book box for his age group, which was usually a good mix of board books and cloth books. His love of books started then, and hasn't faded.
Then it was Eddie's turn to discover the world of books. And though we said Good bye to board books long time ago, reading in the evening at bedtime is our special time (Right now we're reading a Victorian steampunk adventure called Cogheart. I wonder sometimes, when Eddie will consider himself too "grown-up" to listen to his mother reading to him?! When this moment comes, I will most likely feel sad).
Reading aloud to young children creates a special bond. It's never too early to start reading, which helps babies develop language skills as well as a communication know-how.
When you read together and look at the pictures, tots observe and learn - starting with the basic concepts of turning the pages and following the text, pointing and exploring.
Board books provide a perfect opportunity for children to understand the world around them.
Today I invite you to look at the latest preschool books from Words & Pictures with me.
They cover a variety of preschool learning topics. Each book has clear guidelines for parents on the back of the cover, indicating the benefits for learning, i.e. helping build cognitive skills, developing hand-eye coordination etc.
These beautiful books will keep children entertained for hours.
Let's begin with Tales from Nature - a captivating series of books for preschool learning.
Bee and Ladybird by Magali Attiogbe provide the perfect first introduction to nature for young children.
New in the successful Tales from Nature series, join Ladybird and Bee as they go about their day.
These board books are bright, sweet and engaging. Each follows a simple story, with basic facts about insects. For example, the Bee says: "I have two wings, two antennae and lots of fuzzy hair. I am a bee!" As the bee works, collecting the nectar, you follow her to the beehive and learn facts about the queen and the hive.
Each page features bright, bold illustrations and includes a window or a flap to encourage children to read on and discover what happens next.
The Parents' Guide on the cover explains that each book from the series:
- Inspires a deeper knowledge of the world,
- Helps build cognitive skills,
- Encourages hand-eye coordination.
Tales from Nature: Ladybird takes your little ones on another adventure into the wildlife. It also gives some basic facts about ladybirds: their appearance, food preferences, life cycle.
Both of my boys loved bath books, when they were tiny tots. I remember how delighted Eddie was with one of his bath books which also was squeaking when squeezed.
First Concept Bath Books - Shapes and Colours (£8.99 each) - are light colourful books.
Illustrations by Ana Seixas are whimsical, playful and amusing.
Your babies and toddlers will be entertained while in the bath.
This brand new series of bold, graphic bath books is all about exploring first concepts, like shapes and colours.
These squeezable, touchable, foam-filled books are full of fantastic colour which helps to develop children's sensory awareness.
They are very light, and absolutely adorable. Shapes have lovely friendly faces and do acrobatics on each page. Colours have smiley images which remind me of Hey Duggee.
These two books will appeal to babies and preschoolers, who learn their colours and shapes.
Peep Through First Concepts Books by Jane Ormes
First Words and Count 123 (£7.99) are delightful board books, which combine preschool concepts with the original art illustrations. The interactive format is great fun.
All pages come with the peep through holes/windows onto the next page. Learn to count with birds, animals and plants.
The books encourage children to peep through each hole onto the next page. The sturdy pages are great for little hands, and help practice coordination and develop motor skills.
Both parents and children will interact, looking at the exquisite illustrations with clever die-cut shapes.
The pictures are beautiful, crisp and clear. These are stylised images, in vibrant colours and patterned textures.
First Words will improve your child's vocabulary with animals and objects from everyday life.
I loved the illustrations in these two books so much, that I had to find out more about the artist Jane Ormes. Check out her website JaneOrmes.com and have a look at the shop (there is a gorgeous print of a Mr Smoulder, a Cornish cat, a Poldark of the cat world).
Jane's illustrations are a fabulous introduction to art. I can easily see these designs as framed prints, or used as patterns for fabrics and stationery.
"The Words & Pictures preschool range specialises in high quality novelty and interactive learning books, encapsulating laughter and imagination, because opening a book should also open a child's mind to possibilities; innovation, because children should be encouraged to create, not imitate; inspiration, because good books should make children want more - more books, more information, more of life. Our books represent a powerful and positive opportunity to open children's minds to a world of discovery, striving to be the very best, in the same way that we all wish for children to be the very best they can be."
Words & Pictures is part of The Quarto Group.
Check out Quarto Kids on Facebook and Quarto Knows on Twitter.
I wanted to showcase these lovely books, even if we don't have babies in the family any longer (my boys are 17 and 8 now). We agreed with the publisher's PR that the books will be passed onto a special needs nursery in town, and I know that children will love them.
Disclosure: I received a selection of books for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are my own.
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