Peek-a-boo Forest by Lamaze

Peek-a-Boo Forest is a cloth book for young babies made by Lamaze.

We love this book! Maximilian received it as a gift and the 3D furry owl on the front cover immediately piqued his interest. The bright, colourful, cartoon-like illustrations are also very engaging.

Each of the colourful double pages asks a simple "Who is?" question and features a shaped flap behind which the "Peek-a-boo" animal is hiding. See the image below for an example - the animal is owl!

Although simple, each page features lots of images that provide learning and discussion opportunities with toddlers. As well as owl, there is a ladybird, tree, leaves, moon and stars and more in the image below.

The interactive flaps are made from crinkly fabric, which makes reading this a lovely tactile experience - Maximilian has always loved grabbing and turning the flaps.

The story is short, featuring just five animals: moose, owl, raccoon, bear and beaver, so it will engage even the shortest attention span. I also found the rhyming text very engaging and fun to read aloud.

This book is quirky and interesting for us as Australians, because it features animals from faraway places such as moose and beaver. My favourite page is the last one - "Who built this dam? What an achiever!" "Peek-a-boo! It's the beaver!" Ha ha!

Like all Lamaze products, this cloth book is very well made and has excellent construction which withstands even the most ferocious chewing and sucking! One of our first books which Maximilian still enjoys at over 19 months age - he still loves flipping the flaps and saying "boo" to the animals!

Along Came a Bedtime by Ian Whybrow and Guy Parker-Rees

Bear and baby bear are having a bath before bedtime when along comes a cheeky duck. Duck isn't ready for bed and so begins this romp of a story!

Along Came a Bedtime is a playful story featuring lots of fun animals and animal sounds that Maximilian really enjoys. All the favourite animals are here - bear, duck, cat, dog and cow!

The cheerful illustrations are perfect for this fun story - simple and colourful.

This book has great rhythm and rhyme. I love to read it aloud and Maximilian loves to chime in with all the words he knows. There are lots of animal sounds to engage your child throughout the story and I really love the way the baby bear talks in baby language - 'dop' for stop etc. I think this would really engage young children just learning to talk. We also love the repetitive counting : 1, 2, 3, go! Maximilian loves to count on his fingers then shout Go!

A simple but really fun book that we were lucky enough to stumble across at the library. Definitely one we'll add to our home library!

Bug Me! by Jeanette Rowe

For some reason bugs became a bit of a theme when we were preparing Maximilian's nursery space. We have a bug mobile and several bug toys, so when I came across this cloth book while still pregnant, I couldn't resist adding it to our collection.

Bug Me is a very basic book for very young babies. 

Being a cloth book, it is perfect for chewing and sucking! The cover page also has a lovely crinkly texture which makes it attractive for grabbing and scrunching and squeezing.

There is no story in this book - each page simply features a picture of a bug with the word beneath the image eg. caterpillar, ladybird, spider. The images are stylized, cartoon like and very bright and colourful. This would appeal to very young babies limited vision and focus and boost their development. We also use it to sing songs such as Incy Wincy Spider.

This would make a great first book and is definitely suitable from birth. It's appeal lies in its colour and tactile qualities so is probably best for babies up to around 18 months age. We still read Bug Me occasionally and Maximilian still enjoys touching and crinkling the pages - now that Maximilian can say all the bug names in the book, he reads it to me!! We'll hand it over to Walther now so he can start enjoying it too.

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers

This is a book that I bought for me! I simply couldn't resist Stuck when I came across it while browsing my favourite independent bookstore, Riverbend Books.

I have been an Oliver Jeffers fan since I first came across The Heart and the Bottle - an incredible book for older children that I'll discuss another time. There are some authors that you just love everything they do, and Oliver Jeffers is definitely in this category for me.

Stuck begins with Floyd getting his kite stuck in a tree. But the trouble begins when Floyd throws his favourite shoe at the kite and it gets stuck in the tree too. Floyd then tries, among other things, the milkman,  the family car and an orang utan - and they all get stuck too!

Stuck is definitely one that older children would enjoy, due to the ridiculous and hilarious approach that Floyd takes to getting his kite down. I particularly love the bit where he fetches a saw, lines it up, and then chucks it into the tree!

Like all of Jeffers' work, the illustrations are simply magnificent. I adore how expressive the illustrations are - I love the little storm cloud that appears above Floyd's face as his frustration builds when everything keeps getting stuck.

Parents will love this book. Although Maximilian definitely doesn't understand the humour yet, he does still enjoy the story - the repetitive use of the word "stuck" is particularly enjoyable for him and he loves to parrot me by repeating "stuck" as we read this book aloud.

Recommended for readers aged 3 and up, although Maximilian is proof that the book can be enjoyed from 18 months!

Maisy's Fire Engine by Lucy Cousins

Fire engines are big in our house right now!

Maximilian has several toy fire trucks and he learned to make a siren sound around a month ago and it is now one of his favourite sounds.So, when he found this board book in his book box recently, it was immediately a big hit.

Like all Maisy stories, this is simple and short - Maisy and Cyril are firefighters and when testing the fire hose Cyril wets little black cat. The cat then climbs onto the roof of the shed and Maisy climbs the ladder to rescue it.

Lucy Cousins' illustrations are bright, colourful and engaging and the short story and simple text make this a great book for the very young - there isn't enough content to interest older toddlers. The version we have is also the "shaped board book", which is nice for little hands to hold and easy to turn the pages.

As parents, we generally avoid branded character stories and shows, as we aren't fans of the way that everything is branded these days. I only bought this book as it was at a discount bookstore for $3.95 and I was looking for hardy board books to add to our collection.

Having said that, this is a great little book that Maximilian is really enjoying right now - as of yesterday his new word is "again" - so I read this story 4 times in a row this morning - "again", "again", "again"!! 

Ben & Duck by Sara Acton

Ben goes to the park to feed the ducks. One day, there is just one duck - one very large duck, that eats all of Ben's bread before following him up the path, through the gate, into a tree and home. The way the friendship develops between Ben and Duck throughout this book is delightful.


The illustrations throughout Ben & Duck are simply marvellous - gorgeous watercolours with an almost unfinished feel in muted colours that give the characters true warmth and life. It amazes me that such minimal illustrations can still give the characters such expressive faces - Sara Acton is truly talented. Because the illustrations are so muted in colour, they will be especially appreciated by older children and the adult reader - but the images are instantly recognisable for a 15-month old as well.

Ben & Duck was one of Maximilian's first favourite books. "Duck" was one of his first words, so he immediately loved to point to the pictures of duck throughout the story while saying "duck, duck, duck". When Duck comes to Ben's house, there is a picture of the front door with "tap, tap" written on it, and Maximilian also loves to knock on the page of the book while saying "tap, tap". It is really wonderful to see him engage with the story and language in this way, and our favourite picture books are the ones with opportunity for him to become part of the story - not surprising I guess when my favourite books are often ones that I can engage in some way with the story.

This would be a great addition to any storytime session with a duck or friendship theme and there are lots of duck themed crafts freely available. You could also use it as a "food" theme and discuss whether ducks would really eat spaghetti and bread and butter pudding - it would make a great story alongside The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

Recommended for readers aged 1-5.

Squish Rabbit by Katherine Battersby

This is the simple and sweet tale of Squish Rabbit. Squish is just a little rabbit and being little can lead to big problems.

Squish often feels ignored and overlooked. He is lonely and makes a friend, but knows it isn't as good as the real thing. One day, when having a tantrum, Squish meets Squirrel and they become friends.

Although the story is very simple, young children would probably relate to Squish, particularly if they are feeling ignored or misunderstood by the grown ups in their world. Parents could also use Squish's tantrum as a starting point for a great discussion about dealing with big feelings - something that toddlers often struggle with.

The book itself is very well produced - the puffy cover and satin finish give the cover a wonderfully tactile feeling. The illustrations are simple, colourful and effective. The combination of collage and ink drawing is really attractive and the stylised Squish and Squirrel characters are very sweet.

We got Squish Rabbit when Maximilian was around 15 months old and he was just the right age to begin enjoying it straight away. I'd recommend this story for 12 months plus as there isn't enough to engage younger babies effectively, and it isn't available as a board book so younger babies can't engage with the physical book really either.

Katherine Battersby is a local Brisbane author and Squish Rabbit is her first book. Maximilian received Squish Rabbit as a gift from a dear friend and our copy is signed and inscribed by the author. I hope this will just be the first of many autographed books in Maximilian's book collection!