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Beautiful Board Books – April 2026 (Part One)
Baby, You’re Our Sunshine
This beautiful board book celebrates all things baby, and does so in a way that is both heartwarming and fun, creating a joyful reading experience for adults and children alike.
You’re a rainbow, baby!
And I’ll tell you why.
You came after showers
and lit up the sky.
As you can ascertain from the quote I have taken from the book, the way this book goes about describing babies is through comparing them or their behaviour to various types of weather. From rainbows and showers to wind,thunder and even lightning, there is so many contrasts and connections made throughout this book between the two themes and it works really well. What makes it such a successful theme is the way that the illustrations give an explanation to the text – a baby pounding on their dinner tray being depicted for that of thunder – and so collectively the text and illustrations inside this book make it unique and wonderful by design.
Another aspect of the illustrations in this book that I truly appreciate is how well the energy and emotions of the scenes comes across, and I love the various family scenes (many truly chaotic, just like life with a little one often is) that are included as it means little ones are much more likely to recognise their own antics or family members likenesses to the characters too. This really is such a fun book to look at, made epic by the text that compliments the visual content perfectly.
We had lots of laugh out loud moments whilst sharing this book, and it will undoubtedly become a title we cherish for many years to come too, and I think it is the comparitives of weather that makes it so much fun. Babies and Toddlers learn about some weather related characterisitics as a result of sharing this book, as the text references action/motion that relates to both the weather and the baby associated with it. I hope there are additional titles published to compliment this one.
Who said Buzz?
- Written by Becky Davies
- Illustrated by Yi-Hsuan Wu
Who doesn’t love a lift the flap book, or a touch and feel book, well this one incorporates the two and is themed around minibeasts – making it the most wholesome board book to give little ones to engage with and enjoy, learning whilst entertained. I love a book that inspires the next generation, and this is one of those books.
Who said Buzz?
Was it Caterpillar?
Who said Ribbit?
Was it Snail?
The use of alternate sentence startersin repetition, little ones are able to differentiate between questions regarding the who and those in relation to the sound being made, and clarification comes when engaging with the corresponding flap to lift, which reveals the culprit behind the sound detailed within a speech bubble. I particularly love how a cut out in the flap not only partially reveals the textured area of the minibeast illustrated for little ones to enjoy feeling but also is relevant to the minibeast that is actually revealed upon lifting the flap and being introduced to the noise creating minibeast itself too. This design feature to the book is one of the things that makes it so special, with the adorable design of the minibeasts being another. They look so cute.
The soft colour palette to the backgrounds and the bold design to the illustrated detail held within each scene such as flowers, leaves, plant pots and trees makes this such an eye catching, captivating and joyful book to share with little ones. Littles ones will be so excited to engage with all this book has to offer, and them learning about minibeasts alongside enjoying themselves is what makes this even more of a gem.
I love the various scenes that the minibeasts are revealed in, all of which are true to life, and how your eyes roam across the entirity of the pages as a result and enjoying natural habitats depicted in their splendour, and the finale to the book being a mirror that your very own little one can therefore feel as though they are a part of the unfolding hiding and seeking adventure is the perfect conclusion to what is a truly special book to be able to gift to little ones. I really look forward to seeing more titles in the future like this one.
Lift.Touch.Learn FIRST WORDS – Animals
- Illustrated by Dawn Machell
This is without a shadow of doubt one of the most awesome board books for little ones to learn from that I have had the pleasure of interacting with in order to share on here. The sheer amount of flaps included inside makes this an absolute pleasure for little ones that are lucky enough to get their hands on a copy. Along with several flaps per each two page spread there are also those animals that have varying textures for little ones to enjoy touching and feeling. Those textured parts of the book range in colour and detail and are easily spotted by little ones as a result.
A large variety of animals from all across the natural world feature in this book, each and every one of them being clearly labelled – which helps if you aren’t sure of the correct term to call them. There is everything from birds to mammals to amphibians, and they are illlustrated in a bold design with true to life colouring to them too. Each of them looks so adorable, and I am in awe of the vast collection contained inside this book, and the beautiful overall design of it too.
The two page spreads are labelled by habitat, and these include the jungle, the wild, the woodlands, farmyard, watery worlds, pets, and mountains. The final two page spread is a spread of animals from within the book and the question “So many animals! Can you remember their names?” which is a really fun way of concluding the book as it allows the opportunity to do recall of that which little ones have learnt along the way of engaging with this book.
- These titles are published by Little Tiger and are available to buy from all good booksellers.
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