Touch and Feel Neighborhood Animals

I took my 10 month old daughter to the library for the first time. She rummaged through the board books and looked over several. I attempted to read many of them, but there were only 2 that held her interest. Neighborhood Animals was one of them. She wanted me to read it over and over again. There are photo illustrations of real animals that she absolutely loved. On the opposite page is text which was a bit much for her age, but I only read one sentence per page and she was happy with that. The next I read it I'd choose a different sentence. Along with the text is a drawn illustration of the animal at the bottom of the page. She seemed very interested in it also. Great for any baby or toddler who loves animals! By the way, for those interested...the other book was Black and White by Parr.

This book is marketed to newborns and up. It is a great book for the very young child. Each page has a true photo of a different animal and three facts about the animal. The animals are: dog, cat, bird, rabbit, mouse, ladybug, duck, and frog.

This book was one of my daughter's first favorite books. Like other reviewers have said, the words leave a lot to be desired, but for the attention span of a baby/young toddler, they just want to look at the pictures anyway.This book was what helped her get a grasp on some of the different animals. She loves to point at the dog and sign "dog", point at the cat and sign "cat"... and then there's duck, bird, ladybug, frog, too. It helped her learn the difference between these different animals, and helped me teach her the signs for them. Some of the board books aren't good for teaching baby signs (pages are too complicated, pictures aren't very clear), but this one was a huge favorite when she was figuring them out and learning what they were.She is 17 months old and is starting to be more interested in books with more complicated pictures and more going on on the pages. So this one isn't a favorite as much anymore, but for a younger child, I consider it a must-have. (Also check out the Neighborhood Animals Baby Dolittle video... it's a great companion for the book, and the only one that held her attention at all for quite awhile!)

Another super book with beautiful photos that really capture a child's attention. My daughter is still too small to want to hear the text from each page, but we look at the pictures and I tell her what animal it is. As she begins to sit longer, we'll read the text about the animal and eventually discuss the questions on each page.

This book has wonderful photograph-quality pictures of various animals; dog, cat, bird, rabbit, duck, mouse,ladybug and frog. My 1 year old LOVES to look the pictures. It also has questions with every picture appropriate for each animal that initiate interaction for toddlers and would spark connections on the next level of development. It is also a sturdy board book which is the perfect size for small hands to manipulate on their own. A must-have for your beginning library!