Look who’s reading! We’ll tell you how to recognize the perfect books for babies and what you should look out for when buying them.
A gift for a small child must meet the strictest quality criteria. It should be educationally meaningful and sustainable and pose no danger to life or limb. In addition, the fun factor should be at least high enough to give parents a few precious moments of self-care. The classic among meaningful gifts, even for the youngest children, is certainly the good old book. But anyone who wants to give a baby a book should be well informed. Unfortunately, you can’t rely on tried and tested classics for toddler readers. Not only do fiction books tend to bore babies, but in the case of particularly heavy, sprawling volumes, they also pose a risk of injury.
In this article, we at novum publishing reveal the criteria that books for babies should meet.
Books for babies: What you should look out for when buying
Safety
A heavy tome is certainly not the best choice if fine motor skills are not yet working as they should. Books for babies should, therefore, meet certain safety criteria. On the one hand, the choice of materials is crucial. Babies also explore literature with their mouths, which is why harmful substances in baby books are particularly dangerous. In principle, however, baby books should not contain BPA, phthalates or other harmful chemicals. They should also not be made of traditional paper, as this is often tasted and swallowed. Baby books made from natural materials such as wood and textiles are ideal. The latter are particularly suitable for the smallest of readers, as they can still injure themselves with the corners and edges of harder materials. As babies are also very sensitive to smells, only vegetable oils should be used in the ink and paper.
Material
Choosing the right material is not only a question of safety but also the fun factor. Babies who are just discovering their hands just can’t get enough of grasping and feeling. A variety of different surface textures is a real quality criterion for baby books. Rough, soft or even smooth textures are not only fun stimuli, they also encourage the baby’s sense of touch. So, if you discover a baby book with lots of tactile stimuli, go for it!
Promoting development
Basically, books for babies can promote the development of almost all the senses. A book can refine visual, linguistic, motor and auditory skills. Strong, high-contrast colors, as well as clear contours and motifs, are preferable to complex picture worlds in the first year of life. The use of different materials promotes motor skills. Above all, moving elements that encourage interaction are a quality feature of baby books. Flaps, sliders or windows encourage babies to think and also have a positive effect on their mental development. Sophisticated mechanisms in baby books help babies to learn the relationship between cause and effect, for example. Rhymes, simple words and songs shape toddlers’ understanding of language. Books with sounds bring little world explorers closer to the flora, fauna and sounds of everyday life.
Contents
Babies are not yet able to decipher complex, educational messages. For this reason, the first books are more about communicating the world and very general objects. Because babies see everything for the first time, almost everything fascinates them. So, you don’t need to limit yourself when choosing topics. Colors, shapes, vehicles, flora, fauna or the universe and its shining stars are sure to inspire your baby.
Tip: Observe your baby very closely before you buy a book. They often signal their first interests through subtle movements. When they like something, for example, their eyes widen, or their whole body is in turmoil as they kick their hands and feet in excitement. These signs can help you hit the bull’s eye with your baby’s first book.
Hygiene
One factor that should not be underestimated when choosing a first book for your baby is hygiene. Babies spit, salivate and explore the whole world with their mouths – including the world of books. Therefore, books for babies should not only be resistant but also washable. Books made of fabric or materials that can be wiped clean are the perfect choice for a baby’s first book. Of course, not all books need to be waterproof, but at least the books that you read outside the home should be. It’s easy to drop something on the floor when you’re out and about, which is why washable pages can be a real relief.
Age
Every age has its own book – child development is not only extremely exciting but also extremely fast. What a baby enjoys and likes today may be out of fashion tomorrow. When choosing a baby book, you should, therefore, pay particular attention to age-appropriate presentation and content. We have summarized the most important criteria by age for you here:
0 to 3 months
In the first few months of life, babies still have blurred vision. However, strong contrasts, especially images in black and white, promote babies’ vision and even appeal to infants. As babies at this age are not yet able to grasp objects, pictures are more important than content or tactile elements. Babies also react exceptionally strongly to everyday images. So, when choosing, focus less on fantasy figures and shapes and more on real motifs, such as faces, animals or everyday objects like a rattle or bottle. You will see that your baby will soon recognize them.
3 to 6 months
Only from the second and third month of life do babies increasingly perceive colors. The primary colors yellow, red and blue are particularly popular. Simple, high-contrast images in the primary colors convey the environment to the baby and help it to orient itself in it. From around the third month, improved vision is accompanied by better hearing and grasping skills. From this age, a baby’s first book should also offer interesting tactile elements such as mirrors, wood or plush. Different textures and moving elements keep babies busy and help them develop tricky hand-eye coordination. From the third month onwards, sounds also become increasingly interesting, which is why tactile books that rustle or ring are particularly popular with babies. By the end of the sixth month, babies also develop the ability to recognize themselves – a skill that can be supported with a mirror in a book.
6 to 12 months
From the sixth month of life, language development also becomes increasingly important. Picture books are still very popular, but now it is also important to learn the right words to go with the pictures. Simple, short rhymes and songs are the perfect complement to exciting pictures and promote babies’ language skills. Touch and feel books with different stimuli are also very popular with babies from six months, but the tasks they set for the baby should be a little more complex. Elements for pushing, closing or opening that puzzle the baby encourage concentration and cognitive skills. Cause and effect are also learned at this age, which is why books that encourage interaction are a particularly valuable companion.
However, the information in this article should only be taken as a guide. Basically, babies differ greatly in their development and developmental progress, which is why the best guide for buying baby books is yourself: Observe your baby very closely, and you will know what they need and like. The best thing about reading for a baby is the time spent together anyway.
Are you a children’s book author and want to inspire the little ones with your stories? We are still looking for talented children’s book authors, so let your fingers run freely over your keyboard and contact us at office@novum-publishing.co.uk.
Your team at novum publishing
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