My Dad
Anthony Browne

This is one of Jackson's best baby books.  From a very early age Jackson loved this book. Even now at age 19 months, he still loves it. The illustrations are excellent and you see something new on each page every time we read it.

My Mum
Anthony Browne

A good friend bought Jackson this book when he was born and it was his favourite for ages. He still enjoys it now that he is 19 months and we both never get bored of reading it.

Rumpus at the Vet
Lynley Dodd

My wee man loves all the Hairy Mclary books and he seems to select this one quite often for bedtime reading. He loves all the animals and sees new things each time we read it.

Giraffes Can’t Dance
Giles Andraea & Guy Parker-Rees

We have read this book hundreds of times over and over! The illustrations are colourful and fun and our wee man seems to like pointing out all the animals. It’s easy to read and I love the rhyming.

Time for Bed
Mem Fox

Jackson chooses this book to read before bedtime. He likes pointing to the animals and has particular favourite pages that need to be read twice. The illustrations are lovely and it’s a good book for bedtime – you can read it quietly and it’s somehow soothing.

The Gruffalo
Julia Donaldson

We have read and read this book over and over again. It’s well worn and Jackson never seems to get bored with it. He loves the characters and points to lots of things throughout the book. He hisses like the snake and growls like the Gruffalo. Mum loves it just as much as him I think!.

On Becoming Baby Wise
Gray Ezzo and Robert Bucknam

A friend gave me this book and said it literally saved her life. I got a lot out of it as far as establishing routines goes. I learnt about the importance of making sure baby has a full breastfeed at each feed and establishing a pattern of feed, play then sleep. Although I didn’t follow it word for word I found it really useful for general ideas which were really important. I would recommend it to new mums, but like most books of this type I wouldn’t get hung up on following it down to every last word.

What To Expect The First Year
Heidi Murkoff, Sandee Hathaway and Arlene Einsberg

A good book to refer to when you have lots of “what if my baby does this or that…..?” Also good for identifying common baby sickness and treatments. I used this book as a reference book more than reading it cover to cover. I also checked my babies milestones month by month. Some of the recipes at the back were also good. The book was American and I found that some advice differed from what I was given in New Zealand.

Conception, Pregnancy & Birth
Miriam Stoppard

I used this prior to baby being born and read it pretty much cover to cover. It was one of my best baby books for pregnancy. It gave good, clear advice with a week-by-week description of how you and baby were changing and growing through pregnancy. The photographs and images were good and I didn’t find the advice conflicting to anything else I had heard from my midwife or antenatal classes. I would recommend it to first-time mums and my copy is onto it’s 3rd new mum.

Huggies New Zealand

Good for New Zealand mums. You can post questions in the chat area and receive responses from other mums. You can also print off ABC resources. Lots of advice and useful stuff on this site.

Little Treasures

I subscribe to this magazine and I usually read it cover to cover. The articles are usually quite timely and it features lots of new products on the market. It’s more for when you’ve had your baby rather than pre-baby.

There are always good recipes and information on ‘things to do’ at specific ages. Comes out every two months and I look forward to my copy coming in the post.

Julieta, mother of Sebastian aged 3 recommends...

Bonnie, mother of Cosmo, aged 21 months recommends: 

---

What is your best baby book? We would love to feature your recommendations and baby book ideas on our site.

Please send us your baby's favourite book list.

You could also send us a list of books about baby that you recommend.

---