Synopsis: There are rhymes to say and games to play in this book and CD set. It includes easy turn pages, fold out parents'notes,developmental milestones to help you understand and encourage your baby's skills and a 45 minute CD.

 Review This combined book and CD works on several levels. Firstly, it is a book for babies. A sturdy board book, it is spiral bound to allow little fingers to turn the pages easily. The illustrations are all photographs, making them instantly recognisable for little ones. Tabs on the children’s pages enable them find their favourite page. These include a page of animals and the sounds they make, and a page with room to stick photographs of mum and dad.

There is also a CD. In addition to 11 popular nursery rhymes and songs, it has a wide variety of music including classical and jazz, which has been shown to be beneficial to babies. The songs are sung in a rather high key but at a suitable pace for joining in. I liked the bedtime tunes at the end which are particularly soothing.

However ,there is much more to this set. The book also has basic tips and advice for parents, a lot of which is repeated on the CD. Although possibly a little patronising, the simple way in which they are delivered in the book and also on the CD makes it ideal for parents whose own literacy skills are basic. An enjoyable set for babies; this is also an ideal book to recommend to parents who don’t feel confident interacting with their baby.

2008-03-10