Baby's Very First Book: Farm - Jo Lodge

When my son was about 3 months old I decided that, although not old enough to hold and play with toys yet, I needed to give him some extra stimulation. When searching around online for ideas, I came across a selection of ‘Baby’s First’ books and though that these were a lovely idea. Not only would it provide me with something to look at with him but it would also provide a great introduction to books and how they work. I ordered two, this Farm book and the Faces version too.

The book cost me £2.76 with free delivery from Amazon, which I thought was a great price to pay. The book is really simple with the aim to aid baby’s focussing skills. It is a soft cloth touch book with four pages (including the cover) and coloured in black, red and red – three colours that very young babies like. Each page is thick and padded with a scrunchy material that crinkles when touched – further stimulating baby. There is also a red material Velcro attachment so that this can easily be attached to prams etc.

The front cover has a large circular mirror on the front so baby can look at his/her reflection. This is outlined in a red material and then there are black and white concentric circles. The title of the book ‘farm’ is in white lettering and there are black and white pictures of the faces of the three animals featured in the book, cow, pig and sheep.

As you open the book, on the right hand page of each double page is the face of one of the animals with the name printed underneath. Each animal has a different coloured background – white, black and red. On the left hand page is a pattern using the three colours – flowers, zig zags and circle.

I used this book with my son from 3 months. He was not particularly interested at first, but as he got older he took more interest in the colours and the noise made by the book. Now, at 8 months and playing well with toys, he still enjoys this book and likes to look at it himself. When he was younger he would chew on the pages, but it doesn’t seem to have suffered any damage from this. Now, he loves to scrunch the book and sit and turn the pages. He is not overly interested in the mirror on the front, but does love the movement when he turns the pages independently. This book has done a great job of teaching him how books work and providing him with stimulation. It also enables us to teach him the animals and discuss what noises they make etc, which he loves to hear.

I would recommend this book for young babies as the price is so good and it is really durable. The faces of the animals are happy and smiling and babies respond well to them. It provides a great introduction to books for baby.