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The Baby's Catalogue
by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Five families, laid out catalogue-style: their babies, their mornings, their prams, their dinners and the accidents that follow.
A story about children and families, gentle and warm in tone. We would put it with children of 3–4, and at a reading age of about 4 for reading alone.
Nothing flagged
We have not flagged any content in this one that a parent would usually want warning about.
Our take on this book
Laid out like a mail-order catalogue, this book charts the day of several different babies and their families — mornings, meals, toys, mishaps, bedtimes — in pages of small, labelled pictures for a very young child to point at, name and pore over. Janet and Allan Ahlberg built it from watching real babies, and its genius is in the recognition: a small child sees their own high chair, their own toys, their own chaotic family morning reflected back, and never tires of finding them. There is no plot, just the warm, funny, detailed business of babyhood, with nothing to trouble anyone. For a baby or a toddler of one to three, it is a perfect lap book — the labelled pictures are ideal for early talking and pointing, and the variety of families and homes quietly shows every child a version of their own. A gentle, affectionate classic of the very earliest bookshelf, from picture-book royalty.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
Alfie's FeetShirley Hughes
TitchPat Hutchins
DoggerShirley Hughes
Alfie Gets in FirstShirley Hughes
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.