Look!, Look

When my granddaughter was 2 days old, we pulled out this book that we had purchased for her. She looked intently at the pages, esp. the fish page and scanned them left to right and up and down for a considerable length of time. The illustrations are bold and graphic which is perfect for a newborn. It is solely in black and white with the exception of a small amount of red lettering. The size is good for a newborn and since it is a board book, it can be stood up and propped open beside the baby. The only thing that would make it even better is if it were made as an accordion fold book.

Look, look! is really a correct title. The pictures are clear and simple, the contrast for some pictures further enhanced by the same image in black-on-white on the left page and white-on-black on the right. The pictures also lend themselves to telling stories, singing songs, teaching words and counting, besides being such a joy to look at for babies and parents alike.

We currently live in Vietnam and our daughter's nanny has Vietnamese song for every page, and our daughter (now 15 monhts) just still loves reading it. Because of its contrast it is also a great book to keep next to the child's cot to look at when s/he gets up at dawn (when colours and too busy images are hard to discern) and learns to amuse her/himself on her/his own while you sleep a little longer...

A favourite from week 6 onwards!

Other recommended black and white books for infants are the board book "Baby Animals" by Phyllis LImbacher Tildes and the rag book "Faces" of Campbell Publishers.

My baby was absolutely enthralled with the pictures at 2 months - no other book held her attention for as long as this one did. She grew out of it quite quickly though, and it's a fast read. Possibly the highest price-to-words ratio of any book I've ever purchased :)

Wonderful book, My son would look at this over and over and I really think the black white and red made his brain develop faster. I had several other things like this and he started talking at 7 months. By 11 months he was saying "Banana" perfectly. I think some toys/activities are just really helpful in their brain development. Saving them for if we have another baby :)

Bought this for my daughter at around 4 weeks old and she's mesmerized. She'll stare at pages for long periods of time and she'll track while I move it to help build eye and neck muscle/control. She's 2 months now and still very interested in book.

This book is absolutely indispensable. My son loved it so much as a newborn that now I include it in every baby shower gift that I buy. Waitresses and sales clerks used to marvel at how my son would gaze raptly at each page.
While there are many black and white books for newborns, this one is special. Linenthal's creative and complex images really captivate babies, and even tell a story. One of my friends keeps the book open at her changing table and entertains her baby with the pictures while she changes her diapers.
This book got us through many peaceful meals in restaurants! If only there was a book this magical now that my son is a toddler!

Baby loves the contrasting black and white pictures, and notices the red writing as well. The pages aren't super board-book-thick, but they seem fairly durable and I like that it's different that any of the other books we have.

My daughter loves this book! Like every neurotic first-time mom I am worried about her hitting her milestones - especially because she was a preemie. She tracks this book so well! Last night she was whining a little bit and wanting to be held, but as soon as I held this book in front of her, she just stared at it.

My son loves the stark contrast of the pictures in the book! He laughs at many of the pictures and gets super excited when looking at the pages with the fish swimming. The book is also a good size for his little hands

For me, nothing is harder than keeping my 4 month old content while I'm preparing dinner. I can have my 2 year old color or do a puzzle, it is not that easy with the little one.

This book has been great to keep him busy for 15+ minute stretches. He loves the black/white contrast and spends a lot of time looking at each page before "asking" to turn the page. He has now started to turn pages by himself and finds that it is an easily chew-able book. The book itself is well made with solid, firm pages and has stood up to much time in my 4 months old mouth.

If you don't overuse the book, it can be a great tool for giving yourself a few minutes with minimal interruption.

My daughter absolutely adores this book. We stared reading it to her around 2-3 months and she would just be mesmerized by the pictures. I think it's what helped cultivate her early love for books (book was her first word). Now at 16 months, she still occasionally requests it.

My 7 week old absolutely loves this book! The contrasting black and white are great for babies. She will look at each page for several minutes, smiling and baby talking. I ordered 2 more of the books by Peter Linenthal. Great purchase!

Babies respond to black and white, sharp contrast and graphic images. This book is perfect for young babies to just hold in front of them and to let them fiddle with. Past 6-8 months and your kid is getting too old. But still, it is a must for little babies, and the price makes it not a waste really. My kids spent hours looking at it, and the red hits made it a bit more intesreting.

My daughter has loved this book from newborn all the way up until now, at 9 months old, she now touches the pages and talks to them. She loves to stare at the pages so much that I make up more stories about the page contents because it's quite minimal, but of course that's the point of the book; big blocks of contrast.

Every new baby needs one of these books for tummy time. The images are very clear and our baby looks at them intently. Such fun! I sought these out because I remembered using something similar when my children were babies.

I buy this book for all new mothers. Since babies can only see black and white when they are born, they are mesmerized by this little book. When my newborn grandson saw the smiley face on the front, he broke out into a big grin. They never get tired of looking the the pictures in this book ... until they can see in color.

My babys eyes get wide with excitement when I read this with her (she esp. loves "the sun shines" image) - this book has is a regular on my expecting mommies gift giving list as well. Pages are thick so little hands can turn it as they become more capable, glossy and the images are a lot of fun.