Best Books for Babies 2008

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.