Baby Book Blog

Six high-contrast books for babies.

Did you know high-contrast designs stimulates a baby’s eyes? It also helps grow the visual center of their brain. With six granddaughters born in the past four years, I’ve been on the lookout for beautifully rendered high-contrast books for them. Here are some of my favorites. Keep these titles on hand for baby shower gifts to give the infant in your life a head start.

Bound to become classics, these books by Peter Linenthal, with their cut-paper art are described as “striking and stylish.” I would like to add cheerful. These feel good books had Scarlet (my oldest granddaughter) and me smiling when she was an infant. I have given copies to each of my expecting daughters since.

When I showed these to Layla (my second granddaughter) at seven weeks old, her reaction was amazing! She kept scanning each page over and over as if she were “reading” them.

Okay, this is technically not a book but I had to include it because of the art work. It’s absolutely gorgeous. It comes with seven sturdy art cards which you flip over for a total of 14 imagines and a bonus mirror. If I owned an art museum for babies this would be the first item I would acquire. Art connoisseur Rowen (my third granddaughter) seemed to agree as she pushed up on her hands at four weeks old to get a better good look at them. Beautifully made and well constructed, this is a must have.

A 2009 Caldecott Medal Winner, I discovered this high-contrast book by accident. Originally I purchased this lovely book for Layla (now three) but when Aurora (fourth granddaughter and Layla’s younger sister) was born a few months later, she was mesmerized. This is sure to be a favorite bedtime book for years to come as it has the same comforting feel to it as Goodnight Moon by Margret Wise Brown.