The Best Baby Shower Gifts are
Baby Books!

A baby's language development begins earlier than you think. So, the sooner a mother starts reading to her baby, the sooner she will facilitate the baby's speech and language development.

Baby books are a wonderful baby shower gift to give and are an educational and developmental gift for the baby. They also provide entertainment for babies while in the car or a stroller, because babies love to chew on books!

Here are a few guidelines for choosing good baby books:

For a newborn, books provide visual, auditory, and tactile stimulation. A baby will begin to explore a book with both hands and mouth. Books with bright colors and contrasting shapes hold a baby's interest the best. Some books have teething features, such as soft plastic corners or handles. These provide tactile development and aid in teething.

Auditory development can occur by reading and also different kind of pages (some crinkle or squeak when turned). A baby will begin to process the concepts of a book by its look and feel. So any books that offer one or more of visual, tactile, or auditory stimulation are great things to look for in a good newborn books.

Machine washable books are a plus. Waterproof books, such as bath books, are also nice. Some books made with plastic pages have sharp edges so get books with soft/blunt edges. Cloth books are a great baby book choice.

Here are some of the best books for a baby's early sensory development:

Title: My First Taggies Book: I Love You

Reading level: Newborn-Preschool

Description: This book was developed by an early childhood educator. It is a 3 page cloth book, with a fleece cover, and colorful tags on each page that babies can rub and tug. These tags are a tactile and visually stimulating feature of the book that have different print or textures. Machine washable.

Illustrated by: Kaori Wantanabe

Publisher: Cartwheel (September 1, 2004)

Retail Price: 12.95 US, 16.99 CAN

ISBN: 0439649471

Book Dimensions: 7.4 x 7.4 x 1.5 inches

Title: My First Taggies Book: Sweet Dreams

Reading level: Newborn-Preschool

Description: This book was developed by an early childhood educator. It is a 3 page cloth book, with a fleece cover, and colorful tags on each page that babies can rub and tug. These tags are a tactile and visually stimulating feature of the book that have different print or textures that babies can chew on and play with. Sweet Dreams introduces 3 animals, each with a fleece texture for babies to feel, and each one has a cute rhyme.

Illustrated by: Kaori Wantanabe

Publisher: Cartwheel (September 1, 2003)

Retail Price: 12.95 US, 16.99 CAN

ISBN: 0439537711

Book Dimensions: 7.3 x 7.7 x 1.0 inches

Title: Snowy Bear and Friends

Reading level: Newborn and up

Description: This is a very fun touch and feel clothbook. It has rhyming text, various engaging textures, and big colorful drawings of animals. The first page is has a crinkly sound when you turn it, which provides some auditory stimulation for babies. It is a very fun book.

By: Roger Priddy

Publisher: Priddy Books; Rag Book edition (September 1, 2005)

Retail Price: 8.95 US, 12.95 CAN

ISBN: 0312495358

Book Dimensions: 7.5 x 8.0 x 1.2 inches

Other Recommended Books by same author:
Big Rex and Friends (Cloth Books)

Title: Rattle Cloth Book Colors

Reading level: Newborn and up

Description: A fun, 8 page baby book with a rattle for visual and auditory stimulation. The pages have colorful pages featuring simple, single words.

By: Roger Priddy

Publisher: Priddy Books (May 1, 2005)

Retail Price:

ISBN: 0312494521

Book Dimensions: 6.6 x 6.3 x 1.0 inches

Title: Hello, Moon!

Reading level: Newborn and up

Description: A cloth book, with a simple story that introduces moon/nighttime concepts with colorful pages. The book can attach to a crib with the velcro tab on the cover. It is a good choice for a baby's 1st book.

Written By: Philippe Dubarle-Bossy
Illustrated By:Jo Moon

Publisher: Sterling/Pinwheel (September 1, 2005)

Retail Price: 9.95 US, 13.95 CAN

ISBN: 1402726244

Book Dimensions: 7.6 x 7.8 x 1.5 inches

Title: Hello, Sun!

Reading level: Newborn and up

Description: A cloth book, with a simple story that introduces sun/daytime concepts with colorful pages. The book can attach to a crib with the velcro tab on the cover. It is a good choice for a baby's 1st book.

Written By: Philippe Dubarle-Bossy
Illustrated By:Jo Moon

Publisher: Sterling/Pinwheel (September 1, 2005)

Retail Price: 9.95 US, 13.95 CAN

ISBN: 1402726236

Book Dimensions: 7.2 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches

Title: Monkey See, Monkey Zoo

Reading level: Newborn and up

Description: This 10 page cloth book has colorful, 3 dimensional characters, and it is machine washable. The publisher Lamaze Infant Development System specializes in different developmental stages for infants. They have books for birth to 9 months, 9 mo. and up, and 18 mo. and up. "Monkey See, Monkey Zoo" is a stage 1 book, for newborns.

Written By: Gerald Hawksley
Illustrated By: Simone Abel

Publisher: Lamaze; cloth edition (December, 2001)

Retail Price: 14.99 US, 23.99 CAN

ISBN: 1586633252

Book Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches

Title: Old Macdonald : A Cartwheel Cloth Book

Reading level: Newborn and up

Description: This is a fun and interactive book which features a puppet & book. A glove is put on which has the hardcover book attached to the palm area of the glove. Each fingertip is an individual farm animal face: a duck, a pig, a cow, a cat, and a dog. The book itself has bright colors & simple illustrations. It features 6 different pages.

By: Michelle Berg (Illustrator)

Publisher: Cartwheel; Bk&Acces edition (December 1, 2004)

Retail Price: 12.95 US, 16.99 CAN

ISBN: 0439693926

Book Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.5 x 1.0 inches

Title: This Little Piggy

Reading level: Newborn and up

Description: This is a fun and interactive book which features a puppet & book and tells a fun version of the nursery rhyme "This Little Piggy". A glove is put on which has the hardcover book attached to the palm area of the glove. Each fingertip is a pig from the classic nursery rhyme. The book itself has bright colors & simple illustrations. It features 6 different pages.

By: Michelle Berg (Illustrator)

Publisher: Cartwheel; Bk&Acces edition (December 1, 2004)

Retail Price: 12.95 US, 16.99 CAN

ISBN: 0439691494

Book Dimensions: 11.2 x 7.6 x 1.2 inches

Title: Squishy Turtle and Friends

Reading level: Newborn and up

Description: This fun cloth book is ideal for babies and toddlers. It has a variety of textured fabrics and bright colors help to develop children's sensory awareness. The text features rhyming phrases which make it fun for both baby and mommy!

By: Roger Priddy

Publisher: Priddy Books (September 13, 2003)

Retail Price: 8.95 US, 12.95 CAN

ISBN: 0312491840

Book Dimensions: 7.0 x 6.9 x 1.5 inches

Title: Fuzzy Bee and Friends

Reading level: Newborn and up

Description: This fun cloth book is ideal for babies and toddlers. It has different shapes and crinkly cover, both of which are stimulating for babies. It has a variety of textured fabrics and bright colors help to develop children's sensory awareness. The text features rhyming phrases which make it fun for both baby and mommy! It is chewable, machine washable, and has soft cloth pages that can't be ripped.

By: Roger Priddy

Publisher: Priddy Books (September 13, 2003)

Retail Price: 8.95 US, 12.95 CAN

ISBN: 0312491506

Book Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.3 x 1.4 inches

Title: Bright Baby First Words

Reading level: Baby-Preschool

Description: This fun cloth book is a hardcover book that is durable and has colorful pages of actual pictures of animals (not drawings). A great "1st Words" book for babies.

By: Roger Priddy

Publisher: Priddy Books (August 1, 2004)

Retail Price: 4.95 US

ISBN: 0312493886

Book Dimensions: 5.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches

Title: Bright Baby First Words

Reading level: Baby-Preschool

Description: This fun cloth book is a hardcover book that is durable and has colorful pages of actual pictures of animals (not drawings). A great "1st Words" book for babies.

By: Roger Priddy

Publisher: Priddy Books (August 1, 2004)

Retail Price: 4.95 US

ISBN: 0312493886

Book Dimensions: 5.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches

Title: Baby Teethers: Farm

Reading level: Newborn and up

Description: Look, Rattle and Chew! This hardback book features a rattle at the top to shake and give babies auditory stimulation. It also Features a teether on the book, because babies LOVE to chew on books!! The book itself is 24 pages of bright colorful pictures with simple text. This book has a small and sturdy construction to withstand many hours of noisy learning fun.

By: Roger Priddy

Publisher: Priddy Books; Book & Toy edition (April 1, 2005)

Retail Price: 5.95 US

ISBN: 0312494394

Book Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches