Books for Baby’s First Birthday

Books for Baby's First Birthday

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For my second gift idea for my Baby’s 1st Birthday Bash, I’m talking about books! Not just any books! I have a specific series of board books in mind that make awesome gifts for that soon to be toddler. I have lots of ideas for the perfect gift for those little babies that are turning into a toddler and this week I’m going to tell you about my TOP FIVE gifts for a first birthday. At the end of the week, there’ll be a GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY where one lucky reader will have the chance to win ALL FIVE of the gifts I’ll be featuring! Are you excited yet? I know I am! Gift number one is Öko Créations Hooded Bath Poncho, let’s get to gift number two!

The challenging thing about books for the newly into toddlerhood set is finding books that will not only capture their attention but also withstand being pulled, chewed, and thrown around a bit. For that reason I like books that have bold and bright colours, engaging illustrations, sturdy board pages, and something that encourages toddlers to interact with the story. It sounds like a tall order, but I’ve found all that and more in the Usborne Children’s Books Touchy-Feely “That’s not my…” series. Let me tell you all about it!

I love reading to my kids. It’s something I started doing with The Heir when he was just a couple of months old, and it’s still something we do together every day! Needless to say, I wanted to do the same with Petit Prince. Inevitably, he was introduced to books even earlier than The Heir just by snuggling in for The Heir’s daily story time. Although it was fun for him to spend story time with us, the books The Heir enjoys at almost four years old are not the same books that really capture Petit Prince’s attention. This is where Usborne Children’s Books’ Touchy-Feely “That’s not my…” book series comes in. Surprisingly, we only had one of the books from this series for The Heir, but Petit Prince enjoys them so much that we’ve amassed quite the collection since his arrival. The great thing about this book series is that as the child grows into toddlerhood and beyond, there’s still something engaging and fun to do on every page.

Books for Baby's First Birthday

The concept behind the Touchy-Feely “That’s not my…” board book series is to present one type of character and differentiate them based on their textures. On each page of “That’s not my owl…”, for example, you’ll find a defining characteristic of the owl described on the page, and a new texture for baby to explore. The exploration for the child starts right on the front cover of each book. Simply by picking up the book or grabbing at it, the child will discover a new texture. “That’s not my owl…” starts with a shiny smooth yellow beak, while “That’s not my meerkat…” starts with fluffy thick brown ears. Petit Prince has always been captivated by these books, and feeling something different right on each cover no doubt increases his interest in them.

Books for Baby's First Birthday

The illustrations in the “That’s not my…” board book series are wonderful. There’s lots of contrasting colours and boldly outlined shapes. The colours are really bright and fun, so the animals or characters on the pages really stand out. The illustrations give the reader (ie. the parent, grandparent, babysitter, etc.) lots of things to talk about on each page. From the starry night sky to the funky flowers, there’s plenty to hold a toddler’s attention while they take some time to feel an owl’s rough tail or a monster’s hairy eyebrows. As that toddler’s attention span gets longer, there’s even a fun game to play while reading these books. There’s a little white mouse hidden (sometimes in plain sight) somewhere on every page of the book. It’s a lot of fun to see if your toddler can track down the little mouse and see what it’s up to (spoiler alert: sometimes the mouse is floating in a parachute).

Books for Baby's First Birthday

Do these books really last through the years? Oh yes they do! That one book that we had with The Heir is still around and hardly shows any wear after being pulled and chewed on for the better part of the last three years. The board pages of the Usborne Children’s Books’ Touchy Feely “That’s not my…” series are sturdy and thick. Petit Prince can easily get a grip on them to flip the pages at his own pace, and they are strong enough to withstand his new teeth when he just can’t control himself. Sometimes a book is so good you just want to eat it, right? The touchy-feely cut outs on each page hold up really well, too. Even the fluffy and furry textures still have lots of softness to them and haven’t worn away or matted over the years.

Books for Baby's First Birthday

You can really never go wrong with buying books for a child’s first birthday. Finding a series that will grab and hold that child’s attention for more that two minutes? That’s gift giving victory right there my friends! That’s precisely what you’ll get with the Usborne Children’s Books’ Touchy-Feely “That’s not my…” series. There’s a book sure to capture the fancy of every child. From owls to foxes, hedgehogs to meerkats, princesses to pirates, fairies to dragons, tractors to ponies, and so many more, there’s bound to be one that will engage any toddler! I’d hazard a guess that there might even be one to match almost any nursery decor theme too, if that’s your thing! Usborne Children’s Books’ Touchy-Feely “That’s not my…” series retail for $11.95 CAD and you can order them HERE if you’re in the USA and HERE if you’re in Canada.

Books for Baby's First Birthday

The Baby’s 1st Birthday Bash GIVEAWAY is underway! You could win over $150 in prizes including one Usborne Children’s Books’ Touchy-Feely “That’s not my…” board book! The giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents, 18+ and closes on August 2nd at 11:59pm MST. Enter the Baby’s 1st Birthday Bash Giveaway. 

TheMonarchMommy.com

63 Comments on “Books for Baby’s First Birthday

  1. I love these books! I think they are great for toddlers. They have simple, but engaging illustrations and encourage kids to feel the different textures!

  2. Great book idea! We have many books, in french, and we read our LO every day. As we read those books dozens of time each and are kinda tired of them, we need change! LO is at a point where he wants to interact with his books and those books are nice for that. Also, we wish to introduce him to english litterature as well as french litterature so he can have the best of both worlds. Better start young! =)

  3. We borrowed so many of these from the library!! They were my son’s favorite! Love that they are a tactile experience!

  4. I love these books! The bright illustrations, the things to touch and feel, and reading is one of our favorite things to do together. Definitely putting these on our ‘wish list.’

  5. Love usborne books! They are such good quality and interactive! I love the idea of there being more than just a store like finding the mouse on each page! If I don’t win I will have to order this set!

  6. I love Usborne Books! I’ve considered becoming a consultant before so I could get a discount! Haha

  7. These look like they would be great to read with your baby.

  8. I love the bright illustrations and the various textures on the pages of the books. I love to read books to my grandchildren, and then have them “read” them back to me.

  9. I love Usborne books! We only have 2 and my son LOVES them! These would be wonderful to add to the library!

  10. We love this series of books so much! We have That’s Not My Train and That’s Not My Tractor.

  11. These books look so intriguing. I love cute board books my son who is 6 still enjoys his simple board book stories. Teaching my daughter to also love reading in the same way I did with him by starting from the womb and now she’s 5 months

  12. We have a lot of books, but I’m only now (with child #3) starting to collect Osborne books. These are truly good quality, well-thought out, educational experiences every time I scoop my little ones up in my lap for story time.

  13. I would love these books! We have the That’s not my monkey and my kids love it! They love touching the different textures, and the story is fun.

  14. never to early to start the little one’s love of reading, thank you for the giveaway

  15. Touchy feely textured stuff is great for little kids! I love feel books. 🙂

  16. I am always on the lookout for new books for kids.These look like great fun!

  17. Great review! Love usborne books! Perfect for toddlers to learn!

  18. What adorable books! Perfect for any baby. Love all of the colors!

  19. My son has “That’s Not my Meerkat.” It was always a favourite.

  20. These books are adorable! “That’s Not My Duck ” was my daughter’s first favourite book. The books are easy to read, and the illustrations and textures are fascinating to kids.

  21. When My daughter was born we were gifted with ‘That’s Not My Lamb’ and needless to say it was a favourite! Unfortunately it was too loved and in really rough shape for my son who will soon be looking at books and be read them at bed time! I would seriously consider getting all of these seeing how much my daughter loved them!

  22. I myself love books and i introduced my kids to books as soon as possible,the bright illustrations and the things to touch and feel.These books are perfect.

  23. These look like such fun books for little ones. I especially love that they have textures.

  24. Yes! We love kids books and are starting a pretty great collection for our LO due in August!

  25. I’ve never heard of this before, differentiating characters by their texture, but it makes sense for small babies and toddlers who are learning through their hands.

  26. These are so cute! I expecially love the “That’s not my duck” version ( not featured here) because the right duck at the end has ducklings! 🙂

  27. These books are great. Every page has a different texture. My toddler loves the one we have.

  28. I love books and so do all my kidlets.Usbourne books are the back bone of our Home School library.

  29. I love that they are tactile because it engages them so much sooner… and the fact that they are so durable really helps!

  30. My lo is 4 months old and already loves to look at books. The pictures and font look nice and large, great for kids and for moms tired eyes lol

  31. We have one Usborne book that is a hit! I’m sure these would be as well! So cute.

  32. Love incorporating books into childrens programs and daily lives. My sister and I are going to do a toy and book lending program for our children to share ☺

  33. I love reading books to my grandson these would be great for him

  34. I have one book so far for my newborn. I love how durable and thick paged these are to help for him to learn to read alone too

  35. I love that these books are bright and durable! I hate ripped pages in paper books. They are also great to keep a young childs attention!!

  36. We absolutely love our Usborne “That’s not my lion” book! & we would love to add these to our collection since its our only one!

  37. These are great suggestions, my little one loves “This is not my panda”

  38. Those look amazing! I love the concept, that the texture elements actually go with the story, unlike many other board books where its like “Cat” and the cat happens to be fluffy or worse “Tiger” and the texture element is shiny grass. Like what does that even have to do with tigers? Plus owls for the win! Go owls!

  39. Books was textures are great, they help engage the LO. We don’t have any of these but I’ll check them out

  40. Love the textures those are my little ones favorite kind of books so he can be involved and really feel the story.

  41. These books seem so awesome! DD loves touch and feel books! Most of them are so terrible and don’t have much of a story line!

  42. Reading to young children is so great for them, and these books look great!

  43. The durability of these books sounds amazing!! I want to read to my lo and am ashamed to admit that it’s only happened a couple times in her nearly 8 months of life. But it’s so hard to keep her attention. But all the textures described here might actually allow me to get through a whole book! Definitely have to check these out!

  44. These look like fantastic books, I’ll definitely be getting them for my son, we’re always looking for new books!

  45. We love Usborne books. We especially like how there are different textures for babies to experience, making book time more interactive and developmentally accessible. I teach second grade and I can see what a HUGE difference it makes to expose children to literature at a very young age. Books from birth!

  46. I love these! Touchy feely books are the best. My toddler LOVES reading she sits with books and makes up stories only she understands hahaha

  47. I have loved Usbourne books since I home schooled.These look up to their standards.The tactile component of these are just an added bonus!

  48. I’m always on the hunt for good books for my little man, even though he is only 2 months old. Mommy is a bookworm and I want to share my love of reading with him and start him young! These books look wonderful, and I’ll definitely be adding them to my list for him. I love the colours used, as well as the shapes – the detail on the tree bark is especially cool and must really captivate the little ones! It’s even better than they have added the fabrics and such for a sensory play to the books. These will be on my list for his collection! 🙂

  49. Books are my daughter’s favourite toy and these look like they would fit perfectly with our collection!

  50. These books are so cute! I wish they had them in spanish for my babe!

  51. I am always on the lookout for great books for my grandson. At 5 1/2 months, he is starting to truly love and participate in story time. This selection is going to be a big hit. Thanks!

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