Books for Babies and Toddlers - age 0 to 2 years

To become future readers babies and toddlers need your input. By reinforcing the idea that books are fun, you are creating a happy reading background for them when they reach school age. Without you, they will associate books only with school. So make books and reading part of your child's everyday life. As Dorothy Butler once said in her ground breaking book ‘Babies Need Books (Penguin), babies are never too little to look. And by introducing books at an early age you are giving your chil the best start and creating a reader for life. What to look for in a book for a baby or toddler:  

• Clear, uncluttered pictures. Try the Usborne board book series such as the new title ‘Sleepy Baby' by Fiona Watt or the colourful ‘Do Lions Live on Lily Pads?' by Melanie Walsh.

• Familiar subjects and pictures - animals, everyday life, other babies and children - things your child will recognise. Try Sarah Garland's ‘Splash', reviewed below.

• And don't forget nursery rhymes and lullabies that have soothed generations of children. Try the new Irish rhyme collection by Malachy Doyle, ‘One, Two, Three O'Leary'; or ‘First Picture Action Rhymes' in the Usborne series, with tunes available on the Internet.  

I love Leslie Patricelli's books for babies and toddlers. Big, brash, loud, funny and sweet - she has a rare gift. In The Birthday Box a baby gets a present from his Grampa, wrapped in dotty red paper. He rips off the paper, it's a cardboard box! He gives it a hug. Inside he finds a cuddly dog and together they have adventures in their brand new box. This charming book is guaranteed to make any parent smile in recognition.

The illustrations are exceptional, and the colours striking - soaring sky blues, warm happy reds, and sorbet fresh yellows - a visual sweet shop! The baby, outlined in strong black, is full of expression, and when he climbs into the box and tells his new dog a bedtime story - ‘I am very lucky because today is my birthday and I got a box!' - your heart just melts.

It's wonderful to see such accomplished artwork in a book designed for the very youngest readers, so many of their books these days are just scaled down versions of books for older children. More please! READ ALSO: Yummy Yucky; Quiet Loud

Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick
Silly Mummy, Silly Daddy
Frances Lincoln, £9.99 (HBK), ISBN 1845073509

‘Silly Mummy, Silly Daddy' is a charming picture book for readers of two plus from the multi CBI Bisto Award Winner, Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick. Beth is in a bad mood and her whole family try to snap her out of it by entertaining her with sock puppets, dressing up, and rather dubious works of ‘art'. To which she responds ‘Silly Mummy',‘Silly Daddy' or ‘Silly Uncle Ben', depending on who is annoying her. But Big Sister, Ann has a cunning plan and manages to raise a smile and break Beth's mood. The text is delightfully simple and Marie-Louise is certainly in tune with young children and toddler tantrums.

The art work is bright and bold, with strong brush strokes and lots of texture. The expressions on the various characters are spot on, especially Beth's irritated scowl, complete with red angry spots on her cheeks which fade as her mood lifts. The whole book is carefully designed from the colourful end papers to the clear, easy to read text. A highly successful book for toddlers, especially those prone to moodiness! Don't miss it. Read Also: Izzy and Skunk, I'm a Tiger Too

Top Reads for 2 - 4 year olds

Toddlers and older children are ready for ‘real' books. They still enjoy stories with familiar settings but are also fascinated by the wider world around them. They also love funny books and books featuring animals and yes, princesses and fairies!

What to look for in a book for age 2 to 4:

• Books which you enjoy as much as your child

• Books about your child's favourite subject

• Funny books - such as ‘Winnie at the Seaside' by Valerie Thomas.

• Interactive books with lots of opportunity for noise and play, such as ‘Fancy That' by Gillian Lobel.

• Remember to include some of your child's old favourites as well as new books. Old favourites can be very comforting for children. And do let you child choose his or her own books from the bookshop or the library.

• Set aside time each to day to read to your child. Ten minutes before bedtime is ideal. It can make all the difference.

Ben opens a box on his birthday and finds a penguin inside, but try as he may, he just can't get the penguin to talk. But when a huge aquamarine lion eats Ben, Penguin bites Lion very hard on the nose, saving his new friend. Like the text, the illustrations are deceptively simple, all set against a plain off-white background. Ben, a young boy with a large forehead and rosy cheeks, is full of character and Dunbar can convey in a few pen lines what other illustrators take pages to achieve. Brave, charming, and utterly original.

A young girl with stubby pigtails goes to the zoo with her toy monkey in tow. There she sees penguins, kangaroos and finally, monkeys. Again, the text is simple, but the illustrations are exceptional. From the lead-pencil drawings on the end papers, showing the little girl struggling with her tights, to the cheeky swooping bats, these are the kind of joyful, exuberant illustrations that make the heart sing. 

Niamh Sharkey

I'm a Happy Hugglewug
Walker Books, £9.99 (HBK), ISBN 1844280497

It's impossible not to love I'm a Happy Hugglewug, Niamh Sharkey's joyful and irresistible new book. This is a picture book with a difference, an Irish Baby Catalogue (Ahlberg), destined to be a younger children's classic. Each double page spread is treated as a new chapter in the Hugglewug family saga, from the opening ‘Hugglewug Song', to my favourite pages, ‘My Hugglewug Lullaby' - ‘I see the moon, the moon sees me. Hugglewug moon! Hugglewug me!' - with its lush, dreamy greens and blues, and huge, smiling Hugglewug-faced moon.

Each page brings a new surprise, and Sharkey cleverly introduces some useful concepts like numbers and colours in a natural, fun way. I'd like to see the Hugglewug children behaving badly once in a while, and the Hugglewug parents losing their cool, making them more like a ‘normal' family that children can relate to, but that's a minor quibble. Sharkey has brightened and expanded her palate for this book, using vivid postbox reds, baby pinks, and gentle buttercup yellows, ideal for toddlers and younger children. I await Niamh's new book with baited breath. More Hugglewugs please! Read Also: The Ravenous Beast; Santasaurus