The Best New Books for Babies

 
I have no idea

What they are saying

But I like the sounds

Of the up-and-down voices.

So says a happy infant with a book in hand in Who’s That Baby? – New-Baby Songs (HarperCollins, $15.99). Babies love rhythm and rhyme, and this collection by Sharon Creech and David Diaz is a joy. Original short poems describe the world of a newborn, with clear, strong, gorgeous illustrations. “Grandpa” and “Two Big Grandmas” are especially tender.

You can’t always pinpoint what babies get out of being read to, but experts say it’s a lot – vocabulary acquisition, visual literacy development, an appreciation of jokes and a sense of the ridiculous. Not to mention that laptime read-alongs are an amazing, never-to-be-forgotten parent-child bonding time.