One of the easiest developmental stages we can help our baby develop is visual stimulation. We do this by using high contrast toys and books or educational flashcards for baby like the varieties from Banana Panda.
The boldness of black and white images stand out best for baby as they start off seeing a blurry world from their eyes. With pops of color like yellows, reds and other primary colors it really is engaging for baby.
High contrast shapes and patterns provide the baby with something simple and engaging to focus on, and in this focus – or intense concentration – they can allow their minds to rest. Researchers have repeatedly shown that newborns prefer to look at black and white geometric shapes, rather than bright colors or pastels.
We love children’s books on this blog and these 7 titles are for the little one’s. I wanted to give a brief feature of these baby board books for your fall and winter reading and gifting!
Pre-Order these titles today!
Where Is My Pink Sweater? by Nicola Slater
Rudy is looking for his favorite pink sweater. It’s a little small—he’s growing out of it—yet he can’t help but treasure it! The nine jiving llamas haven’t seen it, and neither have the eight prima pigerinas. Lift the flaps and peek through the die-cuts as Rudy follows a trail of pink yarn from his bedroom to the kitchen to the backyard and everywhere in between. This sweet, adventurous story is filled with bold and humorous illustrations, plus a fun counting element along the way. Available October 8, 2019 on Amazon
Farmblock by Christopher Franceshelli
It’s time to plant some crops, harvest the veggies, and make jam to take to the farmer’s market! In this follow-up to Alphablock, Countablock, Dinoblock, Cityblock, Buildablock, and Marvel Alphablock, readers are introduced to what life is like on the farm. Like the previous titles, Farmblock explores a concept—in this case, seasons. From a rooster crowing at the crack of dawn to picking pumpkins for Halloween, there is so much to do all year-round! In keeping with the rest of the series, Farmblock features die-cut pages, gatefolds, and the charming art of British design team Peskimo. Available October 1, 2019 on Amazon
Baby Loves: A First Book of Favorites by Molly Magnuson
This bold, playful board book introduces a variety of familiar objects for babies to identify, including a banana, a sippy cup, a ball, and a puppy! Each is introduced with a variety of other objects in the same category, and readers are asked to pick out the featured object from the rest. The very last spread reveals what babies love most . . . being loved! This new board book is the ideal follow-up to Making Faces, which features the same photographer’s playful photos. Available October 8, 2019 on Amazon.
I Love You, Elephant by Carles Ballesteros
“I love you!” is the refrain on each spread of this joyful story. Readers will delight in seeing new faces appear and then change when the page is turned, thanks to the magical Venetian blind element built into the book. This sweet novelty board book is great fun to read aloud, and the perfect addition to our Changing Faces series. Available November 5, 2019 on Amazon.
My Magical Dragon by Yujin Shin
Enter a magical world and go for a ride on the back of a friendly dragon!With push, pull and turn mechanisms and a sparkly foil cover wheel, My Magical Dragon has plenty to keep little ones engaged and entertained.Yujin Shin’s beautifully coloured illustrations are paired with gentle rhyming text and lots of things to spot in four bright and busy magical scenes. Enjoy more magical adventures with My Magical Unicorn. Available October 8, 2019 on Amazon.
Apple (the journey of an apple) by Nikki McClure
Apple follows the life of an apple throughout the year, demonstrating the cyclical patterns in nature. The youngest readers will delight in following the journey of the bright red apple—the only splash of color in the otherwise black-and-white illustrations—as it travels from tree, to harvest, to snack, to compost, and finally to sprout. A single word complements each illustration, urging early readers to reflect on each stage in the apple’s life. Available on Amazon
Christmas Is Awesome! by Eunice Moylea Hello!Lucky Book
In this whimsical holiday romp, everyone’s getting in on the festive fun, including a grumpy but adorable lump of coal. Celebrate all of the things that make Christmas special as the trees are trimmed, the stockings are hung, and the ugly sweater contest gives out the grand prize. Hello!Lucky lends their winning illustrations and pun-derful voice to this charming holiday read. Available October 15, 2019 on Amazon.
Is it Baby Fever around you this season? We know so many families expecting babies right now. Our oldest son sees his friends having babies often this year. When I have to get a gift for a new parent I love gifts that educate like books, learning DVD’s and learning kits. Teach My Learning Kits are always a hit when I gift them.
Teach My says you can do a lot of learning and growing at just 20 minutes a day and I personally believe that is a great number – 20 minutes! Every night since our 11 year old was an infant I take the last 10-20 minutes of our day and read with him. He is in middle school and doesn’t need me tucking him in anymore (sniff, sniff), but I truly credit our small evening time to his excellent reading and learning skills.
Teach My has award winning all-in-one learning kits for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. No need to spend hundreds of dollars going to several stores buying individual teaching tools, Teach My kits provide everything necessary for learning with baby the basics, all in a portable and storable case.
Have you viewed or had to create a baby registry lately? There is a lot out there! So many toys, bath products, bottles, bedding and more to choose from and all like to make their unique claims of ‘best’, ‘safest’, ‘number 1’ and how do you know what you’ll really need or not need?
Offers.com knows about shopping as well as deals and trends and they recently used Google Surveys to ask actual parents how they shop. We also asked which baby products they’ve deemed overrated — and underrated.
Starting with the most overrated and underrated products there were 5-6 listed in each category. The top overrated product came as the wipe warmer. I am not surprised, are you? I had one gifted to me when my son was born and I think I used it once then just realized I will have many opened wipe bags in almost every room I will be grabbing for as I need and I never would intentionally go grab my wipes from the one warmer.
The most underrated baby product came in as the white noise machine. I use white noise, all 3 of our boys ages 11-27 (still) use white noise and it does wonders for baby too. Trapping the white noise eliminates outside noise and I feel is a must in every nursery. What To Expect found that the top-rated white noise machine is the Marpac Dohm Elite that is available at Target.
More survey answers were, which items made up the majority of your baby registry and the top answer was practical items (such as diapers). The top store parents used to register with was Target and Pampers won as top diaper brand.
Now about spending! 21% of parents surveyed say that having kids has caused them to shop less often to control finances. The majority also saying they are only willing to spend under $100 a month on baby food and diapers. The last category was a fun one, asking parents that if they had extra funds to use anywhere for baby the majority say they would spend it on clothing.
What do you think? I feel this is accurate and in line from what I see. If I am surprised by any answer it may be the last one. My initial thought would be that most parents would want the extra money for techy products like higer quality baby monitors, etc.
With white noise machines being the underrated product that tells me it makes the most practical gift. The Marpac Dohm Elite that is rated top machine from Target by What to Expect is one you may recognize from when you were young because it has been around for 50 years. This is why having this be a top-rated machine makes it very desirable. No animal sounds, no lights just an effective white noise. It is reviewed to drown out almost all sounds! You can adjust the tone and volume and it rushes air naturally so it is an inconsistent, never looping sound that is so soothing that you’ll find yourself wanting one in the master once this one heads to the nursery!
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