Smalltalk Autumn 2015 | Page 36

Worcester and Droitwich Branch Book Corner My ten-month old LOVES books. Listening to stories and looking at books are the only time he is still! One of his current favourites is Baby's Very First Touchy-Feely Play Book, published by Usborne Books. The illustrations are bright and eye catching which is great for babies' visual discrimination. There is good mix between high contrast black and white and bold colours. My baby likes stroking the fluffy caterpillar best! On every page there is something for little fingers to explore for instance squishing the flower or scratching the Velcro on the bird's nest. There are wiggly lines across the page which encourages babies to follow the line with their fingers and cross the mid line. This action is one of the first steps in developing left to right progression. I like that the pages thick enough that he can turn the pages by himself. The written words are minimal just onomatopoeia words, so you can embellish the story at the right level for your baby's attention span. We will definitely be getting some more books in this series. Hannah Cooper, Malvern Worcester and Droitwich Branch Autumn 2015 36