The selections range from nursery songs and folk songs to ballads and lullabies. The Baby's Bedtime Book by Kay Chorao. The Baby's Game Book by Isabel Wilner and illustrated by Sam Williams. The best first books for babies to handle have sturdy cardboard pages, rounded corners and clear bright pictures of familiar things. They are small but not too small.
Tiny books are harder to handle.
These books stand up to an occasional tasting and wipe clean easily. The thick pages make it easy for little hands to master the magic of turning a page. Bumble Bee by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Victoria Raymond. This poem by the author of Good Night Moon fits perfectly in the board book format and offers a baby wondrously rhythmic sounds reminiscent of Mother Goose. This imaginative board book can light up a nursery.