Board books – what do you think of them? A board book is perfect for little hands – and teeth, but choosing one that a baby likes to look at, I find, is a bit of a challenge. Books in board format can be hit or miss. Often publishers try to squeeze a successful picture book, like the Gruffalo for example, into a board book and it just doesn’t work. There is to much text for the age group and the illustrations lose their lustre in a smaller version than they were originally intended.
In my years as a bookseller I have had many wrestles with the board book section and finding the right books to appeal to that age group is still a challenge. However my little road tester Tessie has found some she loves that I thought I’d share !! Those of you who follow us on Facebook would have seen this picture of her kissing these books…
The books she is kissing in this photo are the incredibly delightful and happy series of Noodle books by Marion Billet.
Tess is one but she has loved these books for some months now. Noodle is published by new independent publishing house Nosy Crow and we have Noodle Loves to Cuddle, Noodle Loves the Farm, Noodle Loves Bedtime – there are another couple of titles available too.
Each book has touchy feel-y pieces throughout and they all end with a mirror on the final page – a good mirror, not one of those ones that used to be in books that made you look like you were at Luna Park.
The textured components are really great quality also. Each time I have bought a new Noodle book for Tess I have watched her as she recognised the need to look for the bits to touch on each page, running her pointer finger over the page to find the different texture.
The text in the Noodle series is both rhythmic and fun but also brief – great for keeping her attention. It is also repetitive, saying Noodle’s name on each page so that now I only have to mention Noodle and she instantly turns for the books.
As a parent I have really fallen for the Noodle series and for the author/illustrator Marion Billet. Billet is French and has illustrated over 80 books – mostly in French and she has also done illustration work for toy companies among others. Her website is out of this world cute.
Like another favourite illustrator of mine -Marc Boutavant, her use of colour is in a word, luminous! Little Panda Noodle has these big gorgeous eyes and so much character. He really is a wide eyed, exploring little toddler. I’m sure the Japanese would find him super Kawaii.
Noodle is a board book series that really hits the spot with the right mix for the age group and very easy on the eyes for parents too.
The Noodle series is distributed by Allen & Unwin in Australia and available at your local Indie Bookshop.
Thanks for this really thoughful review: it’s hard to get people to engage properly with the qualities that make a good board book, and you absolutely have – great to see this depth of book and books-and-parenting experience!
Great post, Lou – thanks. It feels very important to pitch it right when you introduce your children to board books, since it’s most likely their first real experience of books. My 11-month-old is enjoying Ladybird’s ‘Baby Touch’ range.
thanks for this, i think i’ll try to get hold of a couple. some big books to translate over ok – my little guy loves ‘brown bear brown bear what do you see’, and ‘mog and me’. but you’re right, ‘gruffalo’ doesn’t work at all… he also loves this gorgeous book called ‘a book of sleep’ by il sung na. he’s fifteen months now but he has really enjoyed that one from about 6 months…
Thank you so much Kate. Tess really does adore the Noodle books. Does Marion Billet have more Noodle books coming?
Thanks Nicci for your lovely comment. I really love what Ladybird have been publishing lately too. We have so many board books here but it’s so interesting to see the ones that Tess keeps going back to.
Thanks for the great review and for letting me know about the Noodle books! We hopped on down to our local independent bookstore and picked up Noodle Loves to Cuddle. My 14-month-old loves it!